Studio and Location Lighting Secrets for Digital Photographers

Studio and Location Lighting Secrets for Digital Photographers......Page 3
About the Authors......Page 5
Credits......Page 7
Rick’s Acknowledgments......Page 9
Vered’s Acknowledgements......Page 11
Contents......Page 15
Introduction......Page 25
Part I: Studio Starter Kits......Page 27
Basic Home Studio......Page 28
Basic Hot-Light Kit......Page 29
Basic Strobe Kit......Page 30
Simply Beautiful......Page 31
Garage Glamour......Page 32
Part II: Our Lenses......Page 33
Love Those Longer Lenses......Page 34
Studio Lighting and Lens Lineup......Page 35
Modeling Light and Fun Photos......Page 36
Favorite Lens for On-Location Portraits......Page 37
Favorite Lens for Environmental Portraits......Page 38
Part III: Photo Composition and Model Positioning......Page 39
Shoot Horizontals and Verticals......Page 40
Get Close and Closer......Page 41
Bank on Professional Backgrounds......Page 42
The All-Important Background......Page 43
Contrasting Colors vs. Tone on Tone......Page 44
Props Pay Off......Page 45
Shooting a Composite......Page 46
Finding and Working with Models......Page 48
Part IV: Creative Lighting Tips......Page 49
Overcome Meter-Challenging Exposure Situations......Page 50
See Light in the Eyes......Page 51
A Word on Eyeglasses......Page 52
Photographing Shiny Objects......Page 53
Low Key versus High Key Lighting......Page 54
Play with Light Placement......Page 55
Dramatic Hair Light......Page 56
Work Hard at Creative Lighting......Page 57
Tips for Baby Shots......Page 58
Balancing Act......Page 60
Testing, Testing, Testing......Page 62
Repositioning the Flash......Page 64
Add an Effect for a Creative Portrait......Page 66
Part V: Hooked on a Feeling......Page 67
Create a “Look”......Page 68
Make Eye Contact… or Not......Page 69
Go For a Total Transformation......Page 70
Master Makeup......Page 71
Understand Body Language......Page 72
Part VI: Oh, the Details......Page 73
Watch the Hands......Page 74
Notice the Nails......Page 75
Pay Attention to the Nose......Page 76
Watch the Lips......Page 77
Gain the Model’s Trust......Page 78
Part VII: The Beauty of Black and White......Page 79
Good Production Trumps Lighting......Page 80
Much Space Needs Much Light......Page 81
Using a Light in Your Frame......Page 82
Main Light Selection......Page 83
Have a Great Model......Page 84
Part VIII: Tools of the Trade......Page 85
Basic Diffuser Setup......Page 86
Basic Reflector Setup......Page 87
Basic Flash/Diffuser Portraits......Page 88
Flash/Diffuser with Reflector Keeper......Page 89
Basic Flash/Reflector Portraits......Page 90
Flash/Reflector Keeper......Page 91
Creative Lighting Accessory......Page 92
Mo’ Behind-the Scenes Photos......Page 93
Try a Triflector......Page 95
Variations on a Theme......Page 96
Jump Into Creative Outdoor Lighting......Page 98
Just Takes One......Page 100
Combine Flash and Ambient Light......Page 101
Dealing with Contrast......Page 102
Digital Darkroom Explorations......Page 103
Karsh-like Images......Page 104
Part IX: Unleash Yourself......Page 105
Wireless Tools Expand Your Capabilities......Page 106
Trigger Your Camera Remotely, Too!......Page 107
New Features Add to the Fun......Page 108
… and It Looks Good, Too!......Page 109
One Flash/Lighting Kit Combo......Page 110
Part X: With a Little Help from Friends......Page 113
Keep It Simple......Page 114
Work with Twilight......Page 115
Light… and Lack of Light......Page 116
Dramatic Side Light......Page 117
Soften an Off-Camera Flash......Page 118
A Regal Look......Page 119
Focus Carefully When Shooting With Fast Lenses......Page 120
Know the Fundamentals......Page 121
Flag It......Page 122
Have a Story to Tell......Page 124
Add Some Imagination......Page 125
Carefully Light the Background......Page 126
Use Your Mind’s Eye......Page 127
Consider Rim Light......Page 128
The Defining Moment......Page 129
Create an Intimate Moment......Page 130
Light Illuminates, Shadow Defines......Page 131
Shape the Light......Page 132
Shoot and Light ’em Separately......Page 134
Inspired by the ’60s......Page 136
Do-it-Yourself Tilt/Shift......Page 137
Bring Back the Magic of Portraiture......Page 138
Blessed Soft Lighting......Page 140
It’s All About the Light......Page 141
Go to Extremes......Page 142
Plan the Shoot, Process the Shot—Carefully......Page 143
Use What You’ve Got......Page 144
Bounced Light is Nice......Page 145
Shoot Beautifully Inside the Studio… and Out......Page 146
Traveling at Lightspeed......Page 147
Use Sunlight as the Key Light......Page 148
Many Lights + Large Crew = Cool Image......Page 149
Who Needs Expensive Gear?......Page 150
If You Don’t Have All Day…......Page 151
Teaming a Photographer and Stylist......Page 152
Part XI: Student Studio Lighting Experiments......Page 153
Shannon Bradley......Page 154
Amy Dieker......Page 155
Chayanne Marfisi......Page 156
Monica Phillips......Page 157
Chris Pino......Page 158
Jacquie Puoci......Page 159
Amy Roberts......Page 160
Lisa Wood......Page 161
Part XII: Photoshop Enhancements......Page 163
Count on Changes......Page 164
Add a Spotlight or Omni Light......Page 166
Change the Lens and F-Stop......Page 168
Create Beautiful Black-and-White Prints......Page 170
Beyond Black-and-White......Page 172
Create a High-Fashion Stylized Look......Page 174
Frame It......Page 176
Add a Nice Vignette......Page 178
Create Professional Color Effects......Page 180
Add Simple Artistic Effects......Page 182
Enhance Details......Page 184
Go for a Spin and Blur Reality......Page 186
Create Movie-Star-Style Lighting......Page 188
All Together Now......Page 190
Part XIII: World is my Studio......Page 191
Love, Respect and Seeing......Page 192
Envision the End Result......Page 193
Work with Backgrounds......Page 194
Create the Disequilibrium Effect......Page 195
See the Light......Page 196
Control the Light with a Reflector......Page 197
Control the Light with a Flash......Page 198
Look for and Create Diffused Light......Page 199
Models, Props and Makeup......Page 200
Make Pictures......Page 201
Meter Your Exposures......Page 202
Work with Colors......Page 203
The Eyes Have It......Page 204
Paying People......Page 205
Play with Plug-ins......Page 206
HDR Plug-in Effects......Page 207
Working with Mirrors......Page 208
Shooting Profiles and Silhouettes......Page 209
Draw More Attention to the Subject......Page 210
Why Off-Center Composition Works......Page 211
Don’t Underestimate the Importance of an Interesting Subject......Page 212
Part XIV: Cool Websites for Flash Info......Page 213
Strobist......Page 214
PocketWizard......Page 215
Westcott......Page 216
LumiQuest......Page 217
Back to Back......Page 218
Canon Digital Learning Center......Page 219
Bogen Imaging......Page 220
Lexar......Page 221
Kelby Training......Page 222
Honl Photo......Page 223
Rick Sammon......Page 224
Appendix: Rick Sammon’s Basic Lighting and Portraiture DVD......Page 225
Wiley Publishing, Inc. End-User License Agreement......Page 227
Index......Page 229