Moodboard
What is studio lighting and why do we use it?
Studio lighting, which is also referred to as strobe lighting is used for portraiture photography to allow for more versatile and unique images to be possible and gives the photographer creative control.
Studio lighting is used for a number of reasons, one of them being that it helps to illuminate an image and the subject that can create unique shadows that cant be created anywhere else, another reason studio lighting is that it allows the photographer to be able to put there idea into action quickly and with the correct tools.
What is low-key lighting?
Low-key lighting is a type of lighting used which create shadows that can be used in many different ways, such as it can be used to invoke emotions and tell a story about the subject of the image.
What is high-key lighting?
High-key lighting is a method of lighting that is used in photography that lights up the subject of it as much as possible, it removes the idea of any emotions and more just puts the focus on the subject which is good for advertising.
What is the difference between 1-2-3 point lighting and what does each technique provide?
1 point lighting – it uses one key light and creates deep shadows and high contrast which is good for moody effects.
2 point lighting – it adds a filler light to the key light that is already being used, this lessens contrast and reduces shadows which provides more balance.
3 point lighting – it adds a back light along with the other lights used which creates an effect where the subject is separate from the background which helps to create depth.
What is fill light?
A fill light is a type of light that is used in 3 point lighting, it is often used in film and media, but it is also used quite a lot in photography while in a studio setting. It helps to light up shadowy parts of the image which in tern gives the effect of less contrast that is visible in the image and helps to create depth.
Artist references
Nadav Kander –
Who is he – Nadav Kander is a London based photographer who was born in December 1961, he is most well known for his landscape but primarily his portraiture photography. In his early life he worked in the south African air force working as a darkroom printer while taking images of aircraft, this was most likely what kicked off his photography journey and turned it into his feature career. In more modern times he is now quite a famous photographer and has won many awards over the course of his life.
Some of his work –
This piece of work is from a set of images taken by Kander of former president of the USA barack obama and was taken in 2012 for the Person of the year award. I believe he has him standing in this formal position along with the averted gaze to give the subject a serious manor and someone to be respected.
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This is a photograph of sir David Attenborough who is a famous wild life documentary producer. The formal pose and engagement with the camera represents emotions that people feel while seeing him as they have probably heared of him for most of their lives.
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Nadav Kander quote –
“These days, things seem to be so transparent.” – Nadav Kander
Photoshoot action plan
I plan to go to the studio and take pictures while using different types of lighting, I will represent the images of me attempting and succeeding to create these types of lighting.
Photoshoots
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Rembrandt lighting –
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Contact sheet –
Image selection
as you can see above I used P and X to flag my images to filter out the bad ones from the ok and good ones, next I rated these images 4 or 5 stars as 4 being ok ones and 5 being good ones, finally I gave them the colour yellow or green, green being the best and yellow being good. I will now edit these images that I selected and present them bellow.
Image editing
On the right of the image you can see all I have done is makes some slight adjustments to the contrast and other things like that.
Next you can see I decided to crop the image to centre the subject a bit more.
Final outcome
As you can see above from my final outcome image of Rembrandt lighting I have taken inspiration from my artist reference and my mood board by getting the subject to engage with the camera with a relaxed and professional expression and took the shot with a half-body angle like Nadav Kander did with the subjects of his images, by doing this it allows the viewer to interpret and understand what the image is.
Overall evaluation
Overall I believe that I was successful in not only being able to capture the type of lighting I was looking for, but also being able to capture the idea behind it and was also able to capture ideas from my artist reference.
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Butterfly lighting –
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Contact sheet –
Image selection
as you can see above I used P and X to flag my images to filter out the bad ones from the ok and good ones, next I rated these images 4 or 5 stars as 4 being ok ones and 5 being good ones, finally I gave them the colour yellow or green, green being the best and yellow being good. I will now edit these images that I selected and present them bellow.
Image editing
On the right of the image you can see all I have done is makes some slight adjustments to the contrast and other things like that.
Next you can see I decided to crop the image to centre the subject a bit more.
Final outcome
As you can see above from my final outcome images of Butterfly lighting I have taken inspiration from my artist reference and my mood board by getting the subject to engage with the camera with a relaxed and professional expression like Nadav Kander did while also still capturing the shape of the butterfly under the nose. I also decided to use a half body shot as I remembered that is what my artist reference liked to do.
Overall evaluation
Overall I believe that I was successful in not only being able to capture the type of lighting I was looking for, but also being able to capture the idea behind it and was also able to capture ideas from my artist reference.
Virtual gallery representation
