You’re a budding photographer. You love taking pictures, capturing memories and sharing important events of people around you. You think that with photos, you’re able to capture a lot of emotions; emotions which only come out from someone once in a while. And just like any other photographers out there, you want to make a name in the industry by starting up your own photo studio. For you, this will be an avenue to showcase your skills while gaining loyal customers in the long run. And while you might have your camera with you, you understand that not everyone will have their photo shoots during the daytime. This means that you’ll be needing lightning equipment. All of this equipment will help you come up with the most breathtaking studio photos.
Sure, you might recognize the need for lightning equipment but do you actually know what to purchase? This decision is crucial because once you end up with the wrong equipment, your photos will never look good, regardless of how good the model poses. Always keep in mind that lightning can make or break an excellent photo. To ensure that you’ll only end up with positive results, consider these lightning equipment for photo shoots:
- The Key Light or Main Light: This light functions as the sun and can be positioned high or can be aimed at 45 degrees to the model from the right of the camera. The key light can produce that classic glamour look or a more directional lightning effect which can make the model’s face look slimmer, depending on where the camera is placed. A photographer can play around with this light to produce different looks. However, the key light should never be positioned below the model’s head as this can create a very “unnatural” effect, making your photos look too scripted.
- The Fill Light: This is considered as the secondary light because it’s weaker than the key light. Most of the time, the fill light is placed on the opposite side of where the key light is located in order to moderate the model’s shadows and shadow lines. The fill light can also help you produce better modelling outputs as this can showcase the model’s contours. If you’re aiming to capture that classic glamour look, place the fill light directly under the key light and have both these lights aim at the model. You can also use a reflector to fill in the model’s shadows.
- The Hair Light or Kicker: This light should be placed above the subject to highlight the model’s hair. This is also one way of making sure that the hair won’t fall on the model’s face. This should be pointed in the opposite direction to where the key light is.
- The Background Light: As the name suggests, this light should be placed behind the model. This technique will throw a semi-circular pattern on the background which will be very evident on photos. You can use this technique when you’re shooting a model in a seamless background which has a uniform color.
- The Soft Light or Diffuse Light: One of the benefits you can get from a soft light or diffuse light is that you can easily control these compared to other types of lights. Many professionals use these lights with several accessories namely diffusion discs or softbox. This is considered as the traditional route in photography which you can also use as your own.
Pros Know Best
If you have been taking photos for years, you’d know how important light is. This can help you highlight which needs to be highlighted in a photo and can speak a lot about what you can do as a photographer. If you know how to properly capture light in a photo, you’ll be able to please more and more viewers, which can become your customers. Aside from making sure that your own photo studio has the right light equipment, you can also check CYC Wall Photography Studio for additional information. Good luck choosing photo equipment for your photo shoot.
I am the owner and operator of the largest television & film studio in South Florida known as M3 Studios. It was all a dream and in 2003 I turned that dream to a reality and started with one film studio, the facility now has 7 Sound Stages, 3 CYC Walls, Green Screens, 6 editing bays, and over 122,000 sq. ft. of state-of-the-art studio space that include full-service production staff and equipment, editing suites, office/conference rooms you name it. Anything you need to complete a creative project. I love film and entertainment so much that I even stunt coordinate on the side for fun. If you would like to see more about the studio follow our instagram account @M3StudiosMiami its always fun to see behind the scenes of movie magic.
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