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How to Light, Shoot, and Edit for High-Key Photography

08 Feb

The post How to Light, Shoot, and Edit for High-Key Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

High-key lighting originated in the early film and television days. Early cameras and film with limited dynamic range, forced lighting techniques to reduce contrast intentionally. Today, with its use of bright light and an emphasis on whites which give an almost ethereal feel to a photo, the high-key look has become the desired style for some photographers. Let’s explore when you might want to choose the high-key photography style and how you can achieve it both when shooting and in editing.

Emulating the look of early television was the goal for this photo and a high-key monochrome was a great way to do it.

As with all art, individual interpretation plays a big part in what photographers consider a “high-key” image and how the technique should be used.

A few things that typify a high-key photo:

Bright lighting that greatly reduces and sometimes eliminates shadows
A dynamic range that is predominately toward the right side of a histogram.
Images where the “mood” is typically upbeat, light-hearted, ethereal, “airy” or beautiful.
Typical uses are in high-fashion, product, or studio-produced images. Lesser so, but not totally non-existent, are high-key outdoor and landscape photographs.
Lighting where the ratio between the key and fill light is very close, thus the root of the term “high-key.”
Distracting elements in the background get eliminated, and typically high-key images contain only the main subject. High-key images are often Minimalist. Many times, the background is entirely white.
Monochrome high-key is more prevalent, and when there is color used, it is typically subdued or used as an accent.

Images of babies and children often benefit from the bright, happy feel of high key.

Two basic approaches to creating high-key images:

1) Light, expose and shoot the photo with high-key in mind from the beginning, or
2) Rework a photograph in editing so that it takes on the attributes of the high-key style.

Often the final image, even if initially shot with high-key in mind, may still require some post-processing to achieve the best result. So let’s first look at how to light and create a high-key image.

Creating the high-key look in the studio

I use the term “studio” here to reference the use of artificial lights in an indoor environment where you can control lighting. This may be but is not restricted to a traditional studio. For smaller still-life subjects, the kitchen counter works just fine. How you light the subject is what creates the high-key look.

The background

The first objective is to light the background in such a way that it is entirely white with no detail. The choice of background material is up to you. If you are shooting a model full-length in a studio, you might traditionally use something like a large piece of seamless paper. A plain white wall can work too. In fact, you can use most light-colored backgrounds if you can put enough light on it to bring the levels up to a “255” totally white level. The lighting diagram below shows how you can set up for a high-key shot in the studio.

Two lights to light the background and two softboxes or other modified lights to light the subject is how high key portrait lighting might be traditionally used in a studio

Once you have your lights set up, make a shot and adjust your exposure so that the background goes as close to all white as you can make it. Sometimes, depending on the lighting equipment you have available, you may not be able to get even lighting across the background. Getting it right in-camera is, of course, optimal; however, you can clean things up in post-processing.

Professionals who make many high-key shots during a studio session may take the time, and have the equipment, to light the background evenly, thus avoiding extensive editing of each shot later. If you are a beginner though, lack of more expensive lighting equipment should not prevent you from giving high-key lighting a try.

Lighting the subject

Lighting the subject is done in the same kind of standard style you might use when doing portrait photography with a key and fill light. You’ll see from the diagram above the key and fill lights have been placed on opposing sides of the subject. For traditional portrait or studio still-life shots, the fill light is typically slightly dimmer than the key light. This allows some shadows to create modeling and depth to the image. (The difference in intensity between lights is called the “lighting ratio.”) In the high-key lighting style, the key and fill lights are usually closer in intensity with the objective being to lessen shadows and give a “flatter” look, minimizing contrast.

In the first diagram above, the background is front-lit with light shining on the background. An alternative is to back-light the background, placing whatever lighting device you’re using, (studio strobe, continuous light, flash or whatever) behind a translucent background so the light shines through and illuminates it. As before, you should light this to be even, and bring its brightness as close to full white as you can get. Take a look at the diagram below to see this alternative lighting method.

Another often used variation of this style is to use a large softbox behind the subject and pointed at the camera.

Here is an alternative that uses just one light. The light source is placed behind the subject and diffused through something translucent. I used a white shower curtain here. Reflectors are used for key and fill.

This lighting style brings in another option of how you light your subject. Because the light used to illuminate the background is pointed at the camera, it might be possible to substitute reflectors for the key and fill lights, bouncing that backlight back onto the subject. This technique can work well for smaller subjects where the distances between the background, subject, and reflectors can be smaller and less light is required.

It may be possible to create the entire effect using just one light source. The photo below was done using this technique.

Using window light

Understanding the concepts above can help you create high-key images using window light and a reflector or fill-flash. Portrait and wedding photographers often take advantage of this style of creating high-key shots with a minimum of lighting equipment. The same principals apply – overexpose the background and light the subject with fill lighting.

An easy way to make a high-key shot at a wedding is to put your subject in window light, overexpose the light coming in the window and fill the subject with your Speedlight.

This was done using the same technique with the backlit shower curtain, but a Speedlight was used to fill the subject.

High-key in landscape photography

High-key images are relatively easy in an environment where you have full control of the lighting. Being able to make high-key shots outdoors with only the available light is more of a challenge. You have to work with the light that is available, have an eye for subjects that lend themselves to the high-key look, and then use your camera settings to get the best in-camera shot you can. Also know that almost always, you need to do some extra work in editing to achieve a good high-key look with your landscape images.

This bitter cold day in Yellowstone National Park had a high-key look already, and minimal editing was needed. High-key needn’t always be monochrome.

The look that typifies high-key photography

Consider the look that typifies high-key photography and what subjects and conditions in landscapes might lend themselves to that look:

Bright, white backgrounds – Snow and bright sand often work well, as do flat cloudy skies
Low contrast lighting – Cloudy, foggy, flat-light days are a good time to consider making high-key shots
Back-lit subjects where you can overexpose the background and fill in the subject with fill-flash or reflected light
Consider spot or center-weighted metering of the subject, allowing good exposure of the subject but a blown-out background.
Using the Live-view feature of your DSLR or mirrorless cameras can be your friend as you can see your exposure and lighting effect before you make the shot.

Snowscapes Can take you most of the way to a high key image right out of the camera.

Editing high-key images

While it’s always a goal to get images that are perfect Straight-Out-Of-Camera (SOOC), editing can be used to fine tune an image. Even when you shoot in the high-key style, additional editing can be used to clean up problem areas, lighten up and even out the background, and enhance the look and feel you are striving for. Take a look at the image below.

Straight out of the camera, this shot needed to be white balanced and there were portions not evenly lit.

Turning on the Highlight Clipping feature in Lightroom allowed painting in more brightness with the Adjustment Brush and Auto Mask turned on. It was an easy way to get a completely white background when the lighting wasn’t even enough

Sometimes you might have an image that you did not consider making a high-key photo when you shot it. However, while editing, you may decide the mood you are seeking would is best suited to a high-key look. Such was the case with the “Angels Dance” image below.

The music and mood of the dance when I captured the shot of these ballet dancers was free, light, and airy. It created a mental image of angels dancing for me. So later, I used the tools in Lightroom to get the look I was after. Following the method used may give you insight into how you can create high-key images in post-processing.

This shot was going to need some work to give it the high-key mood desired.

Post-production technique

The Raw color image out of the camera was underexposed, and the stage lighting had introduced some unusual color. This did not start out looking like a high-key candidate, but here are the steps taken in Lightroom to produce the final result:

There were two dancers in the shot with good form, but two others who needed to be cropped out.
I used a basic editing workflow – Exposure brought up to +1.00, Highlights brought down to -100, Shadows opened up to +100, the Whites brought up to +44, the Blacks brought down to -56.
To deal with the color problem, and also be more compatible with the high-key look, I converted the image to Black & White. Next, I opened the Black & White Mix dropdown and used the Targeted Adjustment Tool. Here, I sampled different spots in the image and brought up the luminance of those colors. Further manual tweaking of the sliders helped bring up the brightness of each color.
Then I readjusted the Exposure to +1.46, the Contrast to +38, brought the White down slightly to +38, the Clarity to -7 and Dehaze down to -9.
To make the background full white, and also lose some distracting elements, I used the Adjustment Brush tool. The Exposure was turned all the way up to +4, checked the Automask checkbox, and carefully used the brush to “white out” the background.
To further give the “heavenly effect” I used a brush with -50 Dehaze to brush in some light “clouds.”

This high key version much better captures the mood of the dance.

Conclusion

The numbers and precise steps used for this image are a guide rather than an exact “recipe.” They are intended to show you the general idea for creating the high-key photography look with Lightroom and the tweaks and tools to get there. The main point is, even if you have an image that does not immediately look like a candidate for the high-key look, some knowledge of what constitutes that look, and how to use your editing tools to get you there, can create some magic.

It’s okay to have some darker tones in your high key photos.

Good photographs communicate to the viewer, tell a story, convey an emotion, or take the viewer to a time and place. Using the technique of high key is one more way to use your images to speak to your viewer. Learn the techniques both to shoot and edit a high-key shot, and you can not only grow your lighting, camera, and editing skills but add a new means of communicating with your images to your bag of photo tricks.

Please try this technique out and share with us in the comments below.

The post How to Light, Shoot, and Edit for High-Key Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

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Bowens is back in business after 2017 liquidation with its new XMT500 strobe light

01 Feb

In July 2017, lighting company Bowens confirmed it had gone into liquidation after 94 years of business, ultimately succumbing to the market’s growing competition and changes in consumer purchase trends. The closure followed Bowens’ 2016 acquisition by European investment company AURELIUS, which also purchased Calumet in the same year to form the Calumet Wex subsidiary.

Bowens has officially returned as a brand under Wex Photo Video with its relaunch of the Bowens XMT500 Flash Head and Twin Head Kit. Wex Photo Video is the exclusive destination for the relaunched Bowens products.

The revived XMT500 Flash Head is described as an ‘all-in-one battery location flash’ that features HSS and TTL tech, recycling times as fast as 0.01 seconds, sync delay from 0.01 to 30 seconds, and support for shutter speeds up to 1/8000s. Other features include the option to fully automate the light settings, eight stops of power, and a battery capacity substantial enough to power 500 full-power flashes per charge.

Buyers can order the Bowens XMT500 Flash Head from Wex Photo Video now for £699; the company is also offering an XMT500 Twin Head Kit for £1,399. This is a substantial decrease from the model’s original £1,199 price.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Explorations in Natural Light for Photography

30 Jan

The post Explorations in Natural Light for Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.

Can you guess one of the most important elements in photography? No, it is not gear, or subject or even location. Yes, all of those are important, but not critical. The most important element in photography is light. And light can quite literally make or break an image. It took me a long time to understand this concept. I used to always think that light can be either good or bad. Have you ever tried to photograph indoors in that horrible florescent light? Or at high noon where you place your subjects in the light, and everyone is getting really mad at you because they are squinting in the sun.

1 - Explorations in Natural Light for Photography Karthika Gupta

Well, let’s just say we all learn from experience. Once I understood that there really is no such thing as bad light, life as a photographer just became a little easier. Light is different and understanding all the different qualities of light is what can help you photograph at any time of day and get the results you want.

For the sake of this article, we will focus only on natural light. Natural light is one of the main sources I use for most of my photography.

There are several reasons why natural light photography is so popular:

It is readily available and free
It provides a range of light variations
It is a super large light source a.k.a the sun
It changes constantly
It can be challenging to master and who doesn’t like a good challenge, right?

Let’s dig right in and understand all the complexes of natural light!

1. Light changes through time

The fascinating thing about natural light is that it changes constantly. Depending on the time of day, the season, or even the direction your window faces – light fluctuates minute to minute.

2 - Explorations in Natural Light for Photography Karthika Gupta

Just before the sun dipped into the horizon.

3 - Explorations in Natural Light for Photography Karthika Gupta

And 10-15 minutes after sunset when the sky just exploded with sun-pretty colors.

2. Light travels in a straight line but also has direction

Where is the light coming from? What angle is it coming from? I personally love the very one-directional, low-angle light that gives deep shadows that leads to a moody look. The best way to understand light direction is to look at a scene and see if it is coming from one plane, backlit, front lit etc.

4 - Explorations in Natural Light for Photography Karthika Gupta

By facing the subjects directly into the light streaming through the window, we almost can create a spotlight effect.

3. Light has intensity

How intense is the light? On a sunny day the light can be quite intense, but on a cloudy day the clouds act as a natural huge diffuser, and the light not only takes on a softer quality but also has less intensity.

4. Light has color

Is it a warmer light, such as in direct sunlight, or a cool light, such as at dusk? The color in the light affects the color and white balance of the scene and hence your photograph.

5 - Explorations in Natural Light for Photography Karthika Gupta

At sunset, the light is warm – exactly what I wanted for this editorial shoot.

5. Light reflects off of surfaces

This is particularly important because you have to be aware of your surroundings. This is also commonly known as a color cast in photos. Look at what’s around your scene including yourself. Your own clothing can reflect off the subject and cast unwanted color in the scene. This quality of light also allows us to try to modify light by adding a reflector to fill shadows, or a black surface to discourage any further reflections.

6. Character of light

Light can be harsh or soft or even a combination of the two which is known as dappled light. The best way to see dappled light is to stand under a tree in full sun. You will see spots of shade and sun on the ground or even on your clothes. This is dappled light. And if done right, is actually quite pretty in photos.

6 - Explorations in Natural Light for Photography Karthika Gupta

I love photographing food in this uneven, dappled light…the play of light, shadows, and patterns are what make this image work for me…instead of a boring white backdrop.

7. Proximity of light

This one is a little difficult to grasp because the sun is so far away. But the closer we are to the light, the more power it has. Try this out for yourself and sit closer to the window. Is the light more intense? Now move further away from the window and see if the light feels less intense?

7 - Explorations in Natural Light for Photography Karthika Gupta

One of my absolute favorite images of all times and almost no editing involved. Side lighting and diffused window make the dancer stand out and everything else fades away.

8. Relativity of light

This is a powerful aspect of light in that the way light hits various subjects is relative. If you have light hitting the primary object without hitting the background, the background will fade into shadows no matter if it’s white/black. You can achieve a black backdrop even with a white backdrop. Our eyes have incredible dynamic range and can see everything, but by selectively lighting objects, we can take photos that let objects fade into oblivion.

Conclusion

One of the best ways to create a mental checklist of all these properties of light is to do a small exercise. Walk around your area, be it your house or office space, look at the light in a scene and categorize it. Where is it coming from, what is the quality of light, and how can you use it? The more you look and analyze, the more you add to your light repertoire and pull it out when you need it for shoots.

The post Explorations in Natural Light for Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.

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Irix Edge Light Pollution filter targets the yellow glow from sodium lamps

29 Jan

Irix has released a new filter in its Edge product line and the first in its Super Endurance (SE) series, the new Irix Edge Light Pollution filter. The offering, which appears to be a glorified UV/Haze filter, is available in 67mm, 72mm, 77mm, 82mm, and 95mm sizes and features durable optical glass strengthened with “a special thermal treatment” and multiple coatings.

Irix says its new Light Pollution filter is designed to be used in urban environments and for nighttime photography where light pollution may obscure stars and natural colors. The filter is designed to remove the yellow glow resulting from sodium lights commonly used in urban environments.

In addition to multiple anti-reflective coatings to minimum reflections, the new Irix filter has a nano coating that repels oil and water. The surrounding aluminum frame sports a black finish resistant to damage and flares. For additional protection, Irix is selling the filter with a protective case for transportation and storage.

The new Irix Edge Light Pollution filter is available in the following sizes and prices:

67mm: 95 EUR / $ 108 USD
72mm: 107 EUR / $ 122 USD
77mm: 125 EUR / $ 143 USD
82mm: 135 EUR / $ 154 USD
95mm: 149 EUR / $ 170 USD

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Weekly Photography Challenge – Light Trails

12 Jan

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Light Trails appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

This week’s photography challenge topic is light trails!

Tree Top Circus © Caz Nowaczyk

Your photos can include light trails from vehicles, light painting, or any other moving light source. Have fun, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Some Inst-piration from some Instagrammers:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Johan Weesie (@jowie_pictures) on Jan 3, 2019 at 4:34pm PST

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Carlos Bolivar (@photo_charles) on Dec 30, 2018 at 6:00pm PST

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Om Prakash Sethia (@om_prakash_sethia) on Dec 15, 2018 at 6:03am PST

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by RECYCLED PHOTOS (@recycleartz) on Nov 6, 2018 at 10:03pm PST

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Phutter Blog (@phutterblog) on Nov 7, 2018 at 10:19pm PST

Check out some of the articles below that give you tips on this week’s challenge.

Tips for Shooting Light Trails

How to do Long Exposure Photography and Light Trails at Night

Stacking Light Trails for Night Photography Special Effects

How to Create Dynamic Photos of Car Light Trails

How to Photograph Light Trails from the Back Seat of a Car

7 Tips for Shooting and Processing Star Trails

How to do Light Painting and Illuminate Your Photography

Long Exposure Photography 101 – How to Create the Shot

Weekly Photography Challenge – Light Trails

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSLighttrails to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

Feature Photo by Alen Rojnic on Unsplash

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Light Trails appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

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“Tales by Light” season three is now available on Netflix

04 Jan

Netflix has recently released season three of its Tales by Light documentary series and reality show that follows photographers such as Darren Jew, Art Wolfe and Krystle Wright around the world, looking closely at their way of working, motivation for traveling and storytelling techniques.

Travel by Light is supported by Canon and National Geographic and is described on Netflix as a show in which ‘Photographers and filmmakers travel the world capturing indelible images of people, creatures and cultures from new, previously unseen angles.’

Season three is a little different to previous seasons in so far that it only features one or two photographers over the entire season instead of a new photographer each episode. You can get an idea of what Tales by Light is about by watching the trailer above. If you are in the US you can watch the full series on Netflix now. It seems viewers in other regions might have to wait a little longer for season three to arrive.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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5 Creative Portrait Lighting Tricks Using Only Phone Light

21 Dec

The post 5 Creative Portrait Lighting Tricks Using Only Phone Light appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

In this video by Derrick Freske, you’ll learn 5 creative portrait lighting tricks using only phone light!

Using only a phone light and some handy reflective props, you can achieve some of the great portrait photography looks in Derrick’s video.

Derrick’s tricks include using:

A disco ball
Scrapbooking paper
Sequinned fabric
Lace fabric
Prism

Try these out and we’d love to see some in the comments section below.

Follow Derrick Freske on Instagram.

You may also find the following articles helpful:

How to use Colored Gels to Create Unique and Creative Portraits

How to Make a Dramatic Portrait with Light Painting Using Items Found in Your Home

Tips for Planning and Capturing a Creative Portrait

How to Make Unique Portraits Using Light Painting

One Speedlight Portrait Lighting Tutorial

The post 5 Creative Portrait Lighting Tricks Using Only Phone Light appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

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Embracing Shadows in Photography – A Lesson for Light and Life

07 Dec

The post Embracing Shadows in Photography – A Lesson for Light and Life appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

In this fantastic video by Sean Tucker, he takes a look at the ways shadows can be used in photography to create mystery and depth.

Shadows in film

Throughout this process, he examines the work of cinematographer, Roger Deakins, and looks at stills from his films Skyfall, Bladerunner, Jarhead and Unbroken. Using these amazing film stills, he analyses how the Deakins uses color, backlight, selective lighting and loads of deep shadows to create mystery and mood in his images.

According to Sean, many photographers say that using film as a point-of-reference for this type of photography is difficult because the same type of images cannot be captured in stills. As photographers, we simply don’t have access to million-dollar lighting set-ups and set design.

Photographers who tell stories through shadows

So, as part of this perspective, Sean also looks at photographers, Constantine Manos, Ray Metzker, Saul Leiter, and Trent Parke who manage to capture shadows in creative ways. These photographers manage to do this through the use of natural light and in the genres of landscape, portraiture and street photography. Through these images, they sculpt light, create character and tell stories with an interesting narrative. These images draw the viewer in and tell richer stories.

In the video, Sean also discusses the limitations of cameras to see the full dynamic range of the eye. He shows us exactly how this theory works with our camera through a diagrammatic presentation. A helpful tool for those wanting to understand dynamic range.

You may also find the following articles helpful:

Add Impact to Your Photos by Including Shadows

5 Tips for Mastering Shadows in Your Photography

How to Use Shadow and Contrast to Create Dramatic Images

24 Dark and Mysterious Shadow Images

25 Shadow Images to Inspire You

The post Embracing Shadows in Photography – A Lesson for Light and Life appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

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5 Ways to Light Your Christmas Tree Portraits This Festive Season

04 Dec

The post 5 Ways to Light Your Christmas Tree Portraits This Festive Season appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Mat Coker.

You want to snap a picture of the kids around the Christmas tree. But after finally getting a photo where they’re all looking happy, you’re disappointed with how it turns out.

In this scene both the tree and the people are nicely illuminated.

Why is it so dim? Where’s the ambiance? Why can’t I capture what I’m seeing with my eye?

The classic Christmas tree portrait can be problematic. And many of those problems have to do with light. So today I’m going to walk you through the five major lighting solutions for better Christmas tree portraits.

I want you to be able to set up a quick shot in front of the tree and have it turn out well. And to do that you need to light the people in the photo without ruining the mood of the Christmas tree lights.

Nighttime vs Daytime Tree Photos

There’s a big difference between taking a Christmas tree portrait at night and taking one during the day. What’s the difference? Light. During the day you can make use of natural window light. However, at night you have to create your own light, which means you’re often taking your tree portrait in a dimly lit room.

So let’s cover nighttime tree photos first, then daylight. Because shooting photos in daylight is easy.

1. Ambient Light by Accident

Ambient light simply refers to the light already present in the scene – the light from your tree, whatever other bulbs you have on in the room, and maybe some lamps or an overhead light.

Many people prefer using ambient light to their camera flash because the flash often ruins the mood of the scene. Working in ambient light can be wonderful providing you’re intentional about it. You can’t just turn on the tree lights and hope for the best.

This was our first ever family photo around the Christmas tree. Like most families, I propped up the camera and set the ten-second timer. But clearly, it didn’t work. Even though the tree is glowing nicely, we’re not lit at all.

2. Ambient Light on Purpose

If you’re going to rely on ambient light for your photos (rather than using your camera flash), you need to get extra light on the people without it spilling onto the Christmas tree. You don’t want to spoil the mood and glow of the tree lights, but you still want the people to be lit nicely.

Try moving some lamps around. Don’t just turn them on to get more light. Move them closer to the people.

This portrait was taken using only the tree lights and a small lamp. Because of the way they diffuse light, lamps create soft light.

3. Pop-Up Flash

Sometimes the ambient light just doesn’t work. So how else can you light the scene? By using the pop-up flash on your camera.

I can hear you groaning. “But I hate the look of flash.” Me too. But there are things you can do to make it look better. And what you rather have – a photo lit as well as possible with flash or no photo at all?

Remember, the idea is to light the people without ruining the mood of the tree lights.

Here’s how to do it:

Move the people in your photo away from the tree a little (three feet or more).
Get as close to the people as you can.

Why do it like this? Because when you’re closer to the people, the flash sends out a smaller burst of light. Once it reaches the people in your photo it fades out quickly, which means it won’t light up the tree too much.

In this photo the pop-up flash has lit the entire scene, ruining the ambient light of the Christmas tree. I need to bring her away from the tree and closer to the camera so the flash lights her but not the tree.

While I also used the pop-up flash in this photo, this time she’s further away from the tree. Now she is lit nicely by the flash, while the tree remains untouched by the flash.

4. External Flash

If you don’t like your pop-up flash blasting light directly at your subject, you could try using an external flash instead. It still attaches to your camera, but you can aim it at the ceiling or a wall to bounce the light off that surface and onto your subject.

I used an external flash for both of these photos. For the photo on the left, I pointed the flash at the wall so the light bounced back to light her up. In the photo on the right, I pointed the flash at the ceiling.

Bouncing light can be tricky when it comes to color. As well as the light, it will also reflect the color of the wall or ceiling it bounces off. (Direct flash is a much cleaner light than bounced flash.) As you can see, the photos I took with the external flash look much warmer. But I can adjust that with a program such as Lightroom.

Notice how her eyes are a little dark in this photo? The light is being bounced off the ceiling above her and isn’t lighting up her eyes. To avoid that, back up a little farther so the light bounces back in front of her and not just above.

Tip: If your flash seems too bright, turn down the power with flash exposure compensation.

I turned the flash power down all the way in order to add just a little bit of light to the scene.

5. Window Light

Window light is is my favorite form of natural ambient light. It’s bright and soft, and illuminates people wonderfully for photos.

This works best when the tree is tucked into a corner out of the window light so it still has some glow for the photo.

Here the tree is tucked into a dim corner so the lights can glow. The kids will sit on the stool and be lit by the window.

Have the light from the window lighting people from the side to create some dimension in the photo through shadow.

The window light provides soft light with just a hint of contrast from the soft shadow. Notice that her left cheek is just a little bit darker than her right.

Notice the glow of the tree and the nice soft light illuminating the portrait.

However, try not to get split light. Have them look toward the window slightly.

Because she’s turned away from the window, a shadow is now dividing her face. Even though it’s still a soft shadow, the light on her face isn’t as pleasing.

In this group portrait, you can even see catch lights in their eyes.

They are turned ever so slightly toward the window, ensuring their faces are nicely illuminated.

Even though I had no idea what I was doing at the time, this is a good example of a glowing Christmas tree combined with window light. There’s a small window illuminating his face, and a larger one creating edge light around his arm and head.

Practice Makes Perfect

Remember, your goal is to set up a quick shot in front of the tree where you’re lighting the people without ruining the glow of the tree lights.

Practice using both flash and window light so you’re prepared for anything. Feel free to share examples of your christmas tree portraits that you’ve taken and how you lit them in the comments.

The post 5 Ways to Light Your Christmas Tree Portraits This Festive Season appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Mat Coker.

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One Light Set-Up For Food Photography

19 Nov

One Light Set Up Food Photography-Darina Kopcok-DPS

When it comes to food photography, the natural light look is highly sought after.

However, it’s difficult to create consistency with natural light because the sun is always moving.

Most pro food photographers use artificial light to really take control of their lighting.

Using artificial lighting doesn’t have to be complicated, though.

Unless you’re doing some types of advertising or food product photography, you can get away with using just one light.

One light is ideal for shooting food for blogs, restaurants, and the editorials you see in popular foodie magazines. You can easily mimic window light, with one set of shadows on your food.

One Light Set Up Food Photography-Darina Kopcok-DPS

Types of Artificial Light

You can choose from several types of artificial light sources.

The most common approach is to use a strobe like a mono head, which is a self-contained flash unit.

If you’re shooting advertising or product, you need to get to high number F-stops like F/22 to achieve the sharpness required without getting lens diffraction that usually goes along with it.

For these types of shoots, you will need a lot of watt power and most likely you will need to rent powerful battery packs.

However, for editorial type shoots, all you need is a 500-watt strobe. You can even use a speedlight with the right modifier.

Some food photographers like to use a constant light, like an LED light panel, so they can see where the shadows are falling before they press the shutter.

One Light Set Up Food Photography-Darina kopcok-DPS

Before You Shoot

Before you shoot, you should think about what you want your final image to look like.

Do you want the light to look soft and airy, or are you looking for deep shadows and striking contrast?

Do you want your light to be soft or hard?

The more contrast you have between light and dark, the more dramatic your image will be.

Your subject will often dictate the style you choose. For example, ice cream has the connotation of summer and is usually brightly colored, thus soft light or a bright and bold look makes sense.

Whether you choose soft light or hard light, your light source should be diffused to give you a nice blur in the gradations where the light and dark meet.

One Light Set-Up For Food Photography-Darina Kopcok-DPS

Types of Lighting Styles

Side Lighting

One Light Set Up Food Photography-Darina Kopcok-DPS

Imagine the face of a clock.

If you picture your light placed at 9:00, this is side lighting.

It can also be placed at 3:00.

However, in the Western world, we read from left to right. Our eyes first gravitate to the brightest part of an image, so it makes sense for our light to be coming from our left-hand side.

This is not a hard-and-fast rule. Each side will affect how the light looks in your photograph, depending on your composition.

The next time you shoot, try taking a picture with your light positioned at 9:00, and then move your light to take a shot at 3:00. Notice the difference in your final result.

Side lighting is a good approach for a lot of food photography, as it works well for most set-ups.

Place a large softbox close to your table. The bigger your light source, the softer the light will be. Soft light is a desirable look in food photography.

Place a reflector or bounce card opposite to the light to bounce some of it back into your scene. Move it closer or farther away, depending on how much shadow you want. Even when shooting white or bright scenes, you still want some shadows to add dimension.

One Light Set Up Food Photography-Darina Kopcok-DPS

Side lighting

Backlighting

Backlighting is when you position your light behind your food, at 12:00.

This is a great choice for beverages and soups, as it adds a sheen and highlights texture and the liquid properties of food.

It can be very flattering to food, but it can also be challenging to work with because your image might be too bright and blown out at the back and too dark on the front. Or it can just look too washed out, which is what happens when you shoot with too much light.

You can also end up with too much reflection on the top of the food.

Backlighting also emphasizes drastic color contrasts that can be difficult to balance.

So be aware of these challenges when choosing to use backlighting.

Backlighting emphasizes texture

Side Backlighting

This is a combination of the two previously mentioned lighting styles, when your light is placed at 10:00 or 11:00.

With this style, you get the best of best worlds; the surface shine of backlighting without the risk of overexposure at the back of the photo. You also don’t have to reflect as much light onto the front of the food because the light is coming from an angle.

The reflector is opposite your light source.

The key is to play around with the height of the light relative to your scene, depending on how you want your shadows to fall.

Side Backlighting

Other Lighting Styles

At this point, it bears mentioning that there are a couple of lighting styles that don’t work for food photography.

Front lighting is often used in portraiture, but it looks terrible on food. It can cast unwanted shadows and your images will look flat and lack dimension.

Lighting from overhead also creates flat images.

Lighting Modifiers and Tools

The most commonly used modifier in food photography is the softbox. The larger, the better.

However, the most used modifier in my own arsenal is a dish reflector with a 20 or 30-degree honeycomb grid.

A honeycomb grid cuts off the light and narrows it, which creates stunning contrasts in food photography.

You also need a large diffuser when working with artificial light. If you’re using a strobe or a speedlight the explosion of light won’t fall off as quickly as it does with natural light, and will give you hard shadows if not diffused, which is usually not ideal.

Also, you’ll need something to bounce and absorb light.

You can buy a 5-in-1 reflector kit, which will have diffusion material as well as a silver reflector to brighten the food and a gold reflector to add warmth.

Alternatively, you can use black or white foam core. White will brighten your scene, while black will absorb the light. I use black in my dark and moody food photography to create deep shadows.

One Light Set Up Food Photography-Darina Kopcok-DPS

My Go-To Lighting Set-Up

I mentioned that I use a dish reflector with a honeycomb grid for my food photography.

You may be wondering what results you can get from shooting that way, but all of the images in this article were shots using this set-up.

The key to success in using this modifier is to have a large diffuser placed at the edge of your table and put the light one to two meters away, depending on how much light you need on your set.

This set-up will mimic window light beautifully because the diffuser actually becomes the light source, not the strobe. The bigger the diffuser the better, so as to keep unwanted light from spilling over the set. My diffuser is 150×200 cm/59x 79 inches!

One Light Set Up Food Photography-Darina Kopcok-DPS

In Conclusion

If you’re just starting to shoot with artificial light for food photography, focus on using side lighting until you feel more comfortable tackling backlighting.

With a bit of practice and some tweaks, you’ll finesse your set-ups to work best with your style of food photography.

Share with us in the comments below your food photography images and any other tips you may have.

The post One Light Set-Up For Food Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School.