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Complete studio lighting with the simplest equipment

All you need is a single light source, a few simple hand-held reflectors and a fair amount of practice, to get the same good pictures as a complete studio set-up.

Many believe that taking successful pictures with studio lighting requires a large number of huge lamps with complex and expensive equipment, but the truth confirms that adopting a single light source may achieve the best results if we determine the location of the subject, the camera, and this light source.
The emphasis on a single light source is necessary at the beginning, in order to learn to exploit this light inside the studio to the maximum extent, in different forms, methods and effects, and we know that the majority of photographers prefer electronic work. This light source, as it is known, does not light except with pressing the shutter - there are electronic flashes that are expensive and can be controlled individually - and working with the electronic flash of the shutter cannot provide us with information about the nature of light propagation, which means that the results will only appear in the resulting image, but When we want to know in advance the locations of the fall of light and shadows, we have to adopt a continuous light source, such as a simple household lamp and tungsten, and with it we can try different locations and effects without wasting the required films and subjects.

- Experiments and tests

We can, as a first experimental stage, conduct tests on a model of a doll's head, the size of a normal head, in the field of face imaging. Portrait, here you can use a regular table lamp.
After placing the doll's head on the table in a dark room, the said lamp is the only light source available for illumination.
We move the lamp in all directions, noticing the different angles with which the shadows vary, and it also leads to highlighting some features in a doubling way over other features. With moving the lamp forward and backward, we also notice how the dimensions affect the appearance of the head.
In this attempt, we can get a basic idea about the way in which the locations of light affect the appearance of the subject, and so when we go to our studio, we are equipped with a good idea to start from in the desired effects of the human subjects that we will deal with instead of the experimental model - the head of the doll - .

Light sites

The quality of the required image is what controls the required light source, which may need simple equipment besides the lamp... Sometimes you need shaded face images, list of shadows, or light side shadows (*) or direct face (*), normal or dramatic, and each of These possibilities call for a different location of the light. To achieve a direct face shot, the flashlight must be facing the subject and shot downward from an angle of approximately 45 degrees.
This location gives a natural look to the face, because the shadows fall in the same way on the face as in
Ordinary daylight... If we move the light at a relatively inclined angle, some parts of the face fall into shadows. Here, when our subject has a slightly protruding face, this may help give him more strength. But the eyes should get some light unless we want to give the face an extraordinary artistic effect. As for the high angle of lighting, it always gives a long shadow under the nose that may lead to a strange result.
Reducing the angle to much less than 45 degrees may result in a flattening effect.
And the shallow angle of lighting may give full enlightenment. But the result here is lukewarm and devoid of feelings. And as soon as we drop the light to the level of the subject's head or below it, the face begins to take on a very different appearance from the natural appearance, and it may be similar to horror films. These films often depend on lighting the subject from the bottom up to give an evil appearance to the face.
When we choose the appropriate height of the light, according to the required shot, the location can also be chosen in front of the subject directly or to its sides or even behind it. Here also, we will find that the direct face photo requires lighting with a lamp deflected to one of the sides by approximately 45 degrees. That is because the direct confrontation site also gives a very lukewarm image, while the side lighting - if we exaggerate it to more than 45 degrees - will cast harsh shadows on the subject. Thus, the ratio of 45 degrees is the location required to give clear shadows that highlight the roundness of the face and do not hide its details.

- Artistic shots from exceptional sites

Sometimes we may need alternative locations for the 45-degree angle to obtain unusual artistic effects, but this requires the conviction of the intended person or subject to obtain images of this kind, because the results may be dramatic and sometimes tragic with amazing effects..and actors often desire this quality. from
Pictures.. While some find them a defect in their pictures or in their face, which leads to their non-acceptance of them at all and their annoyance when they are taken.
In the event that the light is behind the subject, the face falls into darkness, and the images turn into a silhouette shot...
But the peripheral lines of the subject's face will become soft, shiny, and bright here.. This type of lighting is called edge lighting (*), and with it the glows are more clear and distinct with people with thick and curly hair.

And because these snapshots are glamorous and dream-like, as they come in the form of a halo around the face, adding softness and innocence at times...and sedition at other times, hence we find that women want to obtain images of this kind..but we may need
In addition to adding a very faint light to the face, as although we see the face clearly with our naked eyes. However, the lens will not capture the required features of the face except with work to increase the exposure to the extent of turning the edges into a blurry white - we point out here that the eye can deal with the field of light contrast, unlike the camera.

Although the light contrast reaches its maximum with backlighting, we also find in the lighting facing the subject between the areas of shadows and brightness, resulting from one light source, that the light contrast is greater than it should be for the film. While the lighting from the same light source at 45 degrees - to the top or to one of the sides - appears good in the viewfinder, while some parts of the face will be drowned in a deep shadow in the final image. It is true that deep shadows and bright bright areas are ideal for typical works, but as a result we see that they are not suitable in the field of direct facial images.

Exposures, contrast and reflectors

It is easy to know the percentage of light contrast in the subject according to the used camera by measuring the lighting rate. - The rate between the dark and lighted parts - and we can measure this rate by simply approaching the subject with a special counter, either separate or included in the camera. Here we have to take the reading of the lit places and the others that are not lit and compare one with the other.
When working on a color film, there should not be a difference of more than two stops. F. between one region and another. As for the black and white film, the possibilities are more, and it is possible to face the difference of three stops and more, with careful endorsement.
Sometimes we may need a light fill process for the shaded areas. The most obvious of these operations is the use of additional light. But with a single light source, it becomes necessary to use
With reflective surfaces.. We had more than one previous stop at reflectors of all kinds, from cloth to cardboard and the like.
It remains that we have to choose the appropriate location to place the reflector, and this matter requires many experiments on different locations and angles, in order to obtain the desired light effect.
In order to catch the light from our studio lamp, the reflector must be on the opposite side directly.. Otherwise, the subject will cut off the light from the reflector. As for 45-degree illumination, the reflector must be on the side, relatively facing the subject. Here, we emphasize that more than one reflector can be used when necessary. The difference in measurements is that the large reflector is used to brighten the wide shaded area, while the small reflector focuses on spots and areas of interest in the subject.
Despite the focus here on facial images, this does not necessarily mean not adopting the same methods on static subjects with one light source and reflectors, but we must emphasize the elements that we want to highlight as long as different lighting sites lead to giving different advantages.

- filters

When working with normal color film and slide film, colored in particular, and with tungsten light, it is necessary to put an appropriate filter, either on the light or on the camera lens, to give the correct color balance.
Photographic lamps, 500 watts, give true color with a balanced film of artificial light, but common incandescent lamps burn much hotter and require an 81(A) filter.
While normal household 100-watt bulbs are redder, they need an 82 (B) blue filter to give the correct color.
It should be noted that the filters that are placed on the lenses are cheap and easy to use, but the large filters that are placed on the lights are preferred by professionals because they allow mixing different light sources. The filter is damaged.
It should be mentioned here that gelatin slides cannot be used on the camera lens because their optical quality is not of sufficient quality and may cause distortion, which leads to spoilage of many images.