تجهيز المحترف ( الاستديو ) - ٢ - اختيار واستخدام المواد .. كتاب التصوير الضوئي

Professional (studio) equipment - 2 - Choosing and using materials .. Photography book

Studio equipment:

The ideal studio contains a mirror and a makeup table for models, a barrier that can also be used as a reflector, and a refrigerator to preserve color films and other perishable items. A folding table and a sturdy ladder for high scenes or to install the decor are also very useful pieces. The furniture should be pushed against one wall of the studio to empty the space and work walls as much as possible.

Wooden cubes are very effective for supporting objects or to raise the photographer or model. If the studio does not have enough electrical outlets, use a junction box: This method has the advantage of limiting the number of strips and cables on the floor.

Changing backgrounds: The background is very important in the studio. The most useful is the white background, with which all shades of color can be obtained from white to black depending on the way it is illuminated. Different background colors can be obtained by placing colored filters in front of reflectors that illuminate the white surface.

We usually use a roll of white paper hanging from the top of the wall or from the ceiling: it can descend to the floor and return horizontally towards the machine to form a base for the model or objects to be photographed. This avoids the angle formed between the wall and the floor that forms an ugly line. When the paper is dirty, cut the damaged section and drop a new area of ​​clean paper. There are movable paper holders that make movement easier than a fixed support - on the wall or on the ceiling. In addition to the white paper that is widely used, there is a whole range of paper rolls in different colors and densities. The medium gray color finds its place in the use of portraits and the black color for impressions ...
In a well-equipped studio, there are leftover rolls of paper for the background that can be quickly installed one on top of the other.

If the room is used as a studio only for occasions, it is easier to attach the end of the roll to a wall with nails or adhesive paper, leaving the rest of the roll on the floor.

This method allows the construction and establishment of a temporary studio in any room of the house. In any case, take a roll of medium width for this case because a wide roll (2.70 meters) is difficult to install and also to carry.

Spotlights or projectors allow you to project bright spots or geometric drawings on the background. You can use a magic lantern for positive slides. In this case, do not forget that the color temperatures of the magic lantern and the lighting must be at least the same if you want the positive slide to maintain its natural colors.
The frontal projection model is not widespread even among professionals.

- Reflectors and bases:

It is very practical to have a set of negative reflectors: the barrier we talked about above and polystyrene sheets that are characterized by their lightness, cheapness and ease of transportation. The bases for lighting are often composed of an interlocking rod. In small studios, brackets with clips can be used, which are attached to ceiling rails or any other element. There are also interlocking bars that connect the floor and the ceiling, thus forming a very narrow column on which brackets for holding lamps are attached.

- Lighting sources in the studio

Many different methods can be used, including household lighting lamps, although their power is not sufficient and are not suitable for color photography. Special lamps are stronger and their color temperature is suitable for color and black and white photos as well. There are many models of them:

Photofloods and floodlights: It is a lamp with a voltage-converting glow of 150 to 500 watts, and its life is limited to a few hours. Its electricity consumption does not allow it to be connected to household light sockets and its bottom is often of the type of Edison (E27) .

There are other lamps (used and more common among professionals) that are less voltage converter and give a color temperature of 3200 and last about a hundred hours. With the speed of the films progressing, these lamps replace high-voltage flood lights. There are tungsten lamps that include a reflector inside them and are used without an external reflector. All of these lamps mentioned above are available in the market in a transparent or milky form.

- Quartz halogen lamps (gas))

The lamps with a normal glow, especially if they are high-voltage, age quickly in proportion to the evaporation of the wire that is deposited inside the lamp ball. This deposit reduces the color temperature of the light, which poses some problems in color photography. The quartz halogen lamp does not have this defect: this tube contains iodine-emitting particles that, when they meet with the evaporated metal, form the wire continuously. Thus the lamp remains always transparent and its color temperature does not change throughout its life. The iodine/metal circuit only works at a small distance, which explains on the one hand the small size of the lamp and on the other hand the use of quartz (more resistant instead of glass for the lamp housing). Quartz-halogen lamps for general lighting are in the form of a narrow tube several centimeters long and require specially designed lighting devices for their use.

- Incandescent lamps:

Incandescent lamps are used in various machines designed to distribute or focus the light beam according to the need. With milk lamps we often use a 60° reflector, but there are other reflectors that give different angles of illumination. In general, deep reflectors give a narrow beam and shallow reflectors
give a wide beam.

The immersive spotlight (designed to lighten shadows without creating other shadows) contains a very wide reflector and a lamp-loving one that prevents direct light from reaching the subject illuminated by the wide reflector area.

A spot projector uses a special lamp with an internal mirror and a clear object. The glass lens, usually a convex plane or Fresnel lens, forms a light beam whose diameter can be adjusted by the distance of the lens or lamp. The narrower the light beam, the stronger and clearer the shadows it forms.

- Quartz-halogen floodlighting with lamp hider.
- Spot projector.
- Flood lamp in 60° reflector.
- Quartz-halogen floodlighting.
- Quartz-halogen spot projector.