Pro Photography Learning: An Exercise on Photography Lighting

Thursday, February 24, 2012

An Exercise on Photographic Lighting

I purchased these 2 small Matchbox brand firetrucks to resell of course. However, they had lots of nice detail, which I know would be good examples of how to light a product. Once you understand what light does, and how easy it is to work with, you'll be well on your way to creating great photos.

I usually work with only 2 small LTM brand 100 watt lights. I'm working in an area of about 10' x 12' x 10' (3.05 M x 3.5 M x 3.05 M) which is small. Also, My wife let's me keep my lights in a busy part of the house basement, so I don't want to "push my luck" with 2 more light!

The basic lights that I work with are called a main light and a fill light. The main creates the mood and direction of the light, while the fill adds light to the dark or shadow areas. I also work with 1-3 small reflectors to add more detail into the shadows and to add reflections.

1. Main light high,in back, and to the left of the truck

2. The fill is high and to the right of the truck.

The fill is kept high, so that you don't create 2 sets of shadows!

All studio lighting is based on nature: 1 light source (the sun) and 1 shadow.

1. Main light high,in back, and to the left of the truck

2. The fill is to the right of the truck and is a reflector.

3. I added a light to the back, which is called the background light.

The background light adds depth to the photo.

1. Main light high,in back, and to the left of the truck

2. The fill is high and to the right of the truck.

In this case I made a major faux-pax (French for mistake).

Notice that I have 2 shadows running in 2 different directions!

1. Main light high,in back, and to the left of the truck

2. The fill is high and to the right of the truck.

I've purposely kept the main in the same position.

I've used the fill to the right, and sometimes as a background light.

I've placed the small reflectors in slightly different positions and angles to illustrate to you the subley (small) changes that lighting does on a subject.