Week 21 – Studio Lighting

Question 1

1. Name three lighting sources and their functions.
   Daylight – most common lighting source used in photography. Daylight changes during the day.
   Artificial light – any other light, such as lamp, daylight which comes through a window, etc
   Photographic flash – flash light from a camera.
2. Name two light modifiers and explain the difference between them.
   Softboxes and umbrellas. The difference between them is that spread of light with a softbox is more contained, while an umbrella can spill beyond the boundaries of the reflective surface. Softboxes are easier to control than umbrellas.
3. Draw a diagram of and describe the three-point lighting setup.
   

Question 2

1. Draw three studio setups for the following subject matters and list all the equipment that you would use to light your subjects:
   • Portrait
     
   • Fashion
     
   • Beauty
     
2. In a magazine or on the Internet, find one fashion shot, a beauty shot and a portrait shot and explain how you think the lighting was set up in each shot.
   – Fashion – two big key light softboxes above the model on each side. Probably a soft fill light from the front. The lights are directionally, so maybe they used grids on the softboxes.
   
   – Beauty – beauty dish above, reflector under to avoid the shadows, and a softbox as back light.
   
   – Portrait – beauty dish above, reflector under to avoid the shadows.
   

Question 3

Take some portrait shots and pay specific attention to the lighting you use. I would like to see a shot with soft lighting and one with more dramatic, harder lighting. It would be beneficial to hire studio lighting, but if you can’t, you may use natural light, reflectors and your camera’s flash.