When the Nikon D7100 is launched, many new owners will want to test their new body in a studio setting. Of course it is always preferable to use available light if you can, when shooting portraits or still-life pictures.If that isn't possible, the built-in flash will be more than adequate for fill-in work, or you could use a remotely fired flash gun. A little practise can get you some excellent results. But what if you want to go one step further? Setting up a home studios is not as expensive - or inconvenient - as it once was.
Space is the first concern. If you are going to take full length portraits you need to have a high ceiling and at least 5 meters between the camera and the subject. A normal sized garage just about fits the bill, though it will be a bit cramped for the photographer, as opening the door leaves you susceptible to external light sources.You will also need a good supply of electrical sockets. Ideally, if the space is going to be used exclusively for your photography, then you can paint the walls black and put blackout curtains over any windows and, if necessary, over the doors. Failing that, gray walls would be fine, and perhaps more acceptable to other users of the room. If all else fails, try to get some large sheets of blackout material that you can put up against the walls when you are shooting. Of course the background doesn't need to be black - you can get colored backdrops pretty easily, but bear in mind that colored backdrops can reflect their light onto your subject.
The reason photographers work so hard to exclude natural/variable light is so that they can control lighting conditions themselves. When buying lights you will first need to choose betweencontinuous or strobe (flash) lighting. Continuous lighting comes in two kinds - tungsten or fluorescent - and the choice is largely a matter of personal taste. Tungsten lights are sometimes referred to as "hot lights" because they emit heat (this can be a problem if your subject is going to be sitting underneath them for a long time). They also tend to glow with a warmer light and so give a 'reddish' result which can be great for skin tones and natural looking images.
Fluorescent lights have a more blueish tinge and give the sort of light most associated with pack shots or realistic still lifes. They tend not to emit so much heat as the tungstens. Of course, any light can be corrected with white balance, but ideally you want to work with the lighting rather than trying to compensate against it in all the time. Setting white balance is another thing to think about and sooner or later you will forget to do it and find yourself trying to photoshop it in.
The one great advantage of continuous lighting is that you can actually see how the subject will appear in the picture in real-time. This means that you get the lighting right and can then confidently address other variables like content and composition. With the strobe, you are sometimes not sure if the flash fired or not. In many ways continuous lighting is a lot easier, and I would recommend that you start with this. However, when you need to photograph something or someone and give the impression of movement, or freeze them in action, you will have to use strobe lighting.
Strobe lights allow the photographer a much greater degree of flexibility. The intensity of the flash can be adjusted to suit requirement, and that means that the shutter speed can be controlled far more effectively. If the subject is moving, then your shutter speed needs to be as fast as possible. The only real downside (apart from not being able to see the lighting effect in real time), is that the lights take some time to recharge.
When using two lights as a home studio, I would use the softbox as my main light and use the other light to light the background, you might be wise to get a set of inexpensive barn doors to use on your background light as this will stop the light from spilling onto your subject. Set up your trigger on one of your lights and make sure you have a trigger for both of the lights so they fire in sync, the more expensive flash systems have built in slaves. Be sure to keep your main light at least 6ft away from subject so you dont burn out any details and about 3ft away from background so you can get a nice even spread of light.
I usually start at ISO 200, 1/125 at f8. If you can set the lights for about that, it gives you plenty of flexibility. F8 is the optimum aperture for most studio lenses and 1/125 will catch reasonable movement. Pushing the front light out wide will get good detail and shadow on the subject, but always watch how it casts shadows across the face. Long shadows can make the nose seem very big. It this happens, bring the light back towards the camera. Regardless of what you have in mind, it is always a good idea to get the classic shots out of the way first. I always start with the full- length, then half-length and then shoulders up. After you have those done, you can be more artistic and the model has loosened up. As you get more confident, you might want to add more lights. Adding a backlight and using a 3 to1ratio is usually the next step.
Space is the first concern. If you are going to take full length portraits you need to have a high ceiling and at least 5 meters between the camera and the subject. A normal sized garage just about fits the bill, though it will be a bit cramped for the photographer, as opening the door leaves you susceptible to external light sources.You will also need a good supply of electrical sockets. Ideally, if the space is going to be used exclusively for your photography, then you can paint the walls black and put blackout curtains over any windows and, if necessary, over the doors. Failing that, gray walls would be fine, and perhaps more acceptable to other users of the room. If all else fails, try to get some large sheets of blackout material that you can put up against the walls when you are shooting. Of course the background doesn't need to be black - you can get colored backdrops pretty easily, but bear in mind that colored backdrops can reflect their light onto your subject.
The reason photographers work so hard to exclude natural/variable light is so that they can control lighting conditions themselves. When buying lights you will first need to choose betweencontinuous or strobe (flash) lighting. Continuous lighting comes in two kinds - tungsten or fluorescent - and the choice is largely a matter of personal taste. Tungsten lights are sometimes referred to as "hot lights" because they emit heat (this can be a problem if your subject is going to be sitting underneath them for a long time). They also tend to glow with a warmer light and so give a 'reddish' result which can be great for skin tones and natural looking images.
Fluorescent lights have a more blueish tinge and give the sort of light most associated with pack shots or realistic still lifes. They tend not to emit so much heat as the tungstens. Of course, any light can be corrected with white balance, but ideally you want to work with the lighting rather than trying to compensate against it in all the time. Setting white balance is another thing to think about and sooner or later you will forget to do it and find yourself trying to photoshop it in.
The one great advantage of continuous lighting is that you can actually see how the subject will appear in the picture in real-time. This means that you get the lighting right and can then confidently address other variables like content and composition. With the strobe, you are sometimes not sure if the flash fired or not. In many ways continuous lighting is a lot easier, and I would recommend that you start with this. However, when you need to photograph something or someone and give the impression of movement, or freeze them in action, you will have to use strobe lighting.
Strobe lights allow the photographer a much greater degree of flexibility. The intensity of the flash can be adjusted to suit requirement, and that means that the shutter speed can be controlled far more effectively. If the subject is moving, then your shutter speed needs to be as fast as possible. The only real downside (apart from not being able to see the lighting effect in real time), is that the lights take some time to recharge.
When using two lights as a home studio, I would use the softbox as my main light and use the other light to light the background, you might be wise to get a set of inexpensive barn doors to use on your background light as this will stop the light from spilling onto your subject. Set up your trigger on one of your lights and make sure you have a trigger for both of the lights so they fire in sync, the more expensive flash systems have built in slaves. Be sure to keep your main light at least 6ft away from subject so you dont burn out any details and about 3ft away from background so you can get a nice even spread of light.
I usually start at ISO 200, 1/125 at f8. If you can set the lights for about that, it gives you plenty of flexibility. F8 is the optimum aperture for most studio lenses and 1/125 will catch reasonable movement. Pushing the front light out wide will get good detail and shadow on the subject, but always watch how it casts shadows across the face. Long shadows can make the nose seem very big. It this happens, bring the light back towards the camera. Regardless of what you have in mind, it is always a good idea to get the classic shots out of the way first. I always start with the full- length, then half-length and then shoulders up. After you have those done, you can be more artistic and the model has loosened up. As you get more confident, you might want to add more lights. Adding a backlight and using a 3 to1ratio is usually the next step.
About the Author:
Jeremy Bayston has worked in the photographic industry for over two decades. He has a particular interest in digital cameras and photography. Learn more about the new Nikon D7100 and its release date from his website. Regularly updated with news and advice, it can help you get better pictures from your D7100.
