Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Studio Flash Shoot


Introduction

Within photography there is two types of light; hard or harsh light, and soft or diffused light.
- Hard light casts deep sharp shadows with well-defined edges, such as the case in high mid-day sun. - Soft light casts softer shadows with edges less defined, such as; the case on an overcast day. That’s because the light is bounced and diffused in different directions and is spilling into the shadows, so the size of the light becomes much larger.

The effective size of the light depends on two factors:
- actual physical size of the light.
- light's position in relation to the subject.

The closer the light is to the subject, the larger the effective size and the softer it is, and the further the light is from the subject, the smaller the effective size and the harder it is. So you can easily change the quality of light by changing the effective size.

Contrast is the difference between the light and shadow areas of your scene. The greater the difference, the more contrast the scene is said to have. The smaller the difference, the less contrast the scene is said to have.

Lighting Equipment

Most lighting equipment falls into one of three different classes: Grips, Modifiers and Light Sources.

Grips expand to encompass all the stuff we use to support and hold our gear or lighting equipment such as; stands and clamps.

Light modifiers in studio photography attach to (or hold in front of) our flash or light source, to control the light pattern it normally emits, these include umbrellas, softboxes, and reflectors.

Light sources are any number of things that emit light onto our scene. It could be available light such as the sun or tungsten light, or it could be artificial such as flash units and strobes.

The heat produced by a continuous light can make me and my subject very hot and bothered, but because of the very bright light it will also have the effect of closing down the iris in your model's eyes, which it is generally accepted, doesn't make a good portrait.
Studio Lighting - a beginners guide to lighting
Sometimes taking photos in artificial light they can end up with yellow pictures, to your eyes, the light from a tungsten bulb looks white, but it isn't. Colour temperature (the colour of the light) is measured in degrees Kelvin, daylight is around 5,600K and a tungsten bulb is more like 3,200K and therefore records on daylight balanced film as yellow.

This can be overcome in two ways:
Firstly, you can use tungsten balanced colour film. Secondly, you can put a filter on your lens, which will enable you to use any daylight film. The big problem with these two solutions is that as the tungsten filament in the bulb burns it leaves a small residue on the inside of the glass envelope. This means that the colour of the light gradually becomes more yellow as the bulb ages. If you are using print film or shooting digitally any colour cast can be rectified when printing, but slides cannot. The third way is simply to shoot in black & white.


Now with flash, it is normal on-camera flashgun there is no way of knowing what the lighting effect will be, except to say that if using it fitted on the camera, it will not turn out very well.

The advantages of studio flash are - modelling lamp, consistency, power and control.


Studio Lighting - a beginners guide to lightingModelling Lamp
 
Studio flash units are fitted with a continuous lamp, that can be seen on this photograph sitting in the centre of the circular flash tube, because of its position it gives a very accurate indication of the angle and quality that the flash will produce when fired. This makes the lighting easy to set-up.
As this lamp is relatively low powered, it doesn't get the heat or brightness problem thats talked about with continuous light. The only thing to remember is that the flash will be a much stronger light, so the shadows will be darker and the highlights will be lighter. To help, trick the eye/brain built-in compensation device when setting up lighting, first close one eye (a camera only has one) then squint through the lashes. This has the effect of increasing the contrast level you can see and is much more like what the camera will record. 
Consistency
 
The tungsten bulb burnt with flash every time you press the shutter the colour of the light from the flashtube is balanced to daylight, this means that its possible to use any film you'd  like without the need for filters, even with slide film.

Power
 
Modern flash units give huge amounts of power, released in a fraction of a second, as for most home users a unit with a power of 250, 300, 500 or 600 watt/seconds is usually sufficient. Watt/seconds or Joules (the same thing) is the measure of the power that a flash unit can produce. Guide numbers, changes by changing the accessory on the front. A 300 w/s unit is half the power of a 600 w/s unit, which is exactly 1 f-stop, so if your 600w/s unit was set up two metres from your subject and you were getting a flashmeter reading of f/16, then a 300w/s unit in the same place would give a stop less at f/11.
Studio Lighting - a beginners guide to lighting 
Control
 
The most simple and inexpensive studio flash units have at least a 'full/half power' switch, most will offer much more control. Remember, that if you turn a flash head down to half power its reducing the output of the light by exactly 1 f-stop. Smaller reductions in power with a simple head are obtained by moving the head further away, or closer for more power. Inverse Square Law  basically this means that if you move the light source twice as far away,  it'll lose two f-stops of exposure. (e.g. Our head is one metre from our subject, using ISO100 film we are getting an exposure of, say f/16. If we move the head back to two metres away our exposure will be f/8, - two f-stops less)


Monoblocks vs Power Packs



Studio Lighting - a beginners guide to lighting
 

Monoblock, or Compact Flash Heads as they're normally called, most of what amateurs and most professionals require. Compacts have all the electronics built into the head (above right), whereas a Power Pack will have a separate floor standing unit with all the electronics in and a separate head, or heads, that are plugged in to this. The head contains a lamp holder for the modelling lamp, the flash tube, simple circuitry and normally a fan to keep it cool.
Power Packs are generally used when a huge amount of power is required (up to 6000w/s) and when the units are going to be used at high speed over long periods (e.g. for fashion photography, which I'm doing). The parts that generate the most heat are housed in the head away from the electronics in the pack, which is also fan cooled, with the new generation Compacts, such as; the Elinchrom Style unit above, many of the advantages of the pack have been removed.


The Standard 3-Light Setup
A 3-light setup consists of: a key light, a fill light, and a separation light.

Key light is the main light that has the most significance in your scene. It creates the defining highlight and shadow areas of the shot, and is the light that all the others are based upon.
If the key light was the only source of illumination, the subject would have a well-defined side, with the back and other side appearing fairly dark. This could result in dramatic high-contrast effect if done creatively, as shown in the images below.

Photo by Wayne - Amethyst Photography
indoor flash photography
Photo by Dustin Diaz
indoor flash photography
Photo by Dustin Diaz
The fill light is a secondary source of light that is used in conjunction with the key light to open up the shadows at the other side of the subject, and cut down on scene contrast.

Separation light - or hair light - is the third source of light, and is used if you have a dark subject against a dark background. So it would come in handy for separating the subject from the background, providing a good outline from behind and pulling it out from the background.
So ideally having a main light source to one side of the model set up on a stand, with a soft box or an umbrella on strobe for softer, defused light. To the other side of the model could either have a fill light or a bounce card, to fill in the shadows on that side of the model (also set up on a stand). The fill light or reflector would be set a little bit lower than the key light, and it could also be placed further away from the model than the key light.
Finally have a separation light placed behind your model from above to separate them from the background, could place a backdrop of choice behind the model if the natural background is not very flattering (or too cluttered).

Note: if you remove the separation light from the diagram above, it'll end up with a basic two-light setup. This is useful when the subject doesn’t need separation from the background (due to a different backdrop or background tone), or to purposefully blend the subject into the background for creative effect.
indoor flash photography
If the place has no bright walls, it's possible in using anything that can act as a bounce surface: a reflector, white cardboard, a light table cloth, or even someone wearing a white shirt. All those can be used as a bounce surface. Just face the light toward whatever it is that's available to act as the bounce surface, and place the model to the side of that surface!

What's a Flag? A flag is anything that is used to block light in a controlled way, preventing it from spilling onto your model. It could also be used to prevent light from flaring into the camera lens.


Surround Bounce

This technique is by setting up the flash unit in a way that would illuminate a large bounce area of a medium-sized room, by taking advantage of walls and ceiling to scatter and diffuse light as found appropriately. Using surround bounce gives the photos a natural-like light that is typically available with no artificial lighting involvement.


Floor Shots
Floor shots are just like any other wall bounce shots, only flipping everything 90 degrees towards the ceiling as it acts as a softbox. The model would be lying on the floor, with the light source pointing towards the ceiling and bouncing back to illuminate the subject and the surrounding environment in general. Also substitute the ceiling with an umbrella, with the flash facing away from the subject. The light would bounce off the umbrella and onto the subject, easily illuminating them while creating the  masterpiece.

Here are a couple of examples:
indoor flash photography
indoor flash photography


Making Use of Ambient Light
Ambient light can also be used for lighting in an indoor photo shoot, either with or without a flash. It could be used as a rim light from behind, pulling the subject away from the background while it lights up their face with an on camera flash.
Ambient light could also be used alone to take care of lighting. Making use of any light bulbs, table lamps and so on. For ambient-only lighting in a fairly dark environment could placing two table lamps (taking the shades off) opposite to each other work with the model in between.
Placing one of them closer to the subject than the other, to act as a main light while the opposite light source acts as a fill light, plus this technique can take the readings in real-time as the light falls on the subject.

indoor flash photography












Photo by Bob
indoor flash photography
Photo by Daniel Greene

Making Use of Window Light
Windows are a great light source for indoor photography, especially if they're large or emitting great amounts of light, placing the subject against a window and shoot them from the front (with or without an on camera flash). Of course if using a flash, it would be the key light and the window light would be the softbox. Could also expose the subject without regard for the window light, to get a high key result.
Alternatively, using the window light as key light by turning the model to the side, having half their face lit by the window while the other side fairly lit by available room light for dramatic creative results. Or use fill light by placing the subject in the same manner, and having a main light source positioned to the other side to act as the key light.
indoor flash photography
indoor flash photography
Photo by Gabor Szantai
indoor flash photography
Photo by Jay Ryness

To Concluded
Studio lighting can be broken down into two categories, continuous and flash. While continuous lighting has two main advantages there are many disadvantages.


The good points of continuous light:

  • It's inexpensive, and makes a good starting point for anyone on a small budget.

  • You can see what the light is doing and where the shadows and highlights are.

The main disadvantages of continuous light:

  • It generally produces more heat than light, very uncomfortable!

  • The light that it produces is not balanced to daylight.










Test Shots (not edited)

Health & Safety

Health and Safety in Photography; working on location or in the photographic studio.
By Alia Kassem, 26th February 2014

If you are visiting this blog, it is about how vital the importance of your knowledge is, that you be aware of health and safety for all participants in your photographic sessions when photographing people.

So to write something that is relevant for the photographic studio and when location shooting for photographers. I found the website for the Health and Safety Executive invaluable in writing this article, on health and safety in the photographic industry.

Health and Safety for Photographers -

Essentially, I have taken some extracts from various information, to produce this blog and modified it, in relation to specific applications in the area of photographic practice.
If you want specialist help with Health and Safety, I  recommend that you visit the HSE website here it is the introduction page, to the guidelines for HSE is a good entry into the HSE website.
What health and safety law requires:

- The basis of British health and safety law is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

- The Act sets out the general duties, which employers have towards employees and members of the public, and employees have to themselves and to each other.

- These duties are qualified in the Act by the principle of ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’. In other words, an employer does not have to take measures to avoid or reduce the risk if they are technically impossible or if the time, trouble or cost of the measures would be grossly disproportionate to the risk.

- What the law requires here is what good management and common sense would lead employers to do anyway: that is, to look at what the risks are and take sensible measures to tackle them.

- The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (the Management Regulations) generally make more explicit what employers are required to do to manage health and safety under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Like the Act, they apply to every work activity.

- The main requirement on employers is to carry out a risk assessment. Employers with five or more employees need to record the significant findings of the risk assessment.

- Risk assessment should be straightforward in a simple workplace such as a typical photographic studio or location. It should only be complicated if it deals with serious hazards such as those in a darkroom using chemicals.”


In creating an environment in the photo-studio or photographic location you will need to consider the following points in creating a health and safety framework.  

The HSW Act and supporting regulations require employers (photographers) to ensure the safety, health and welfare at work of their employees so far as is reasonably practicable. It also places a general duty on employers (photographers) to conduct their business in such a way as to ensure that others (ie non-employees and members of the public) are not exposed to risks to their health or safety. 
Employees (assistants) are required to co-operate with their employers (photographers) in complying with health and safety law. They are required to take reasonable care to ensure they do not endanger themselves or anyone else using the premises, which could include assistants, models, make-up artists, hairdressers, stylists, models (etc),  and visitors.
They should:
  • Follow the instructions and training given by their employer (the photographer) in the safe use of particular items of equipment such as photographic equipment, studio lights, darkroom and computer equipment as appropriate.
  • Inform their employer (the photographer) of any work situation which is a serious and immediate danger to health and safety, for example broken equipment.
  • Inform their employer (the photographer) of any shortcomings in the arrangements for ensuring the health and safety of employees. 
Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, as amended (the Management Regulations), employers need to assess the risks to the health and safety of employees and others who may be affected by their activities. This may require employers their employer (the photographer)   taking advice from other professionals on specific risks.
Who is responsible for the assessment?
  • It is the employers’ (photographers) responsibility to ensure risk assessments are carried out. In practice, competent employees who have the relevant training, knowledge and understanding of the issues may undertake them. It is also important to involve key decision makers in the process (as appropriate) especially where there are significant resource implications. To be fully effective, they need to consider how other issues, such as environmental conditions, restricted workspace, and the risk of violence.”
Risk Assessments
We all know that we need to do some form of risk assessment but what is involved in doing this. Why if we are freelance photographers should we consider doing one. For a start, if you have public liability insurance you can claim to being aware of any issues before they arise and you have some paper work that shows you where aware of any issues if something should happen. Apart from this it is good practice to do a risk assessment as it shows you clients, subjects and co-workers that you do care about providing a positive and safe working environment for everyone. The Health and Safety Executive has the following guide you should download and consider using: “Five steps to risk assessment

You need to follow these five steps, to not only be aware of risks but, also to do something about them:
  1. Identify hazards.
  2. Decide who might be harmed and how.
  3. Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions.
  4. Record your findings and implement them.
  5. Review your assessment and update if necessary.
Working on Location

The Health and Safety Executive has a useful guide in Buildings used for locations or temporary studios in film and television. That covers things like working in buildings, control measures, fire, responsibilities, hazards, Utilites, Vermin, hazardous materials, rubbish and debris to name a few of the details it goes into.
In the guide it refers to ‘must’ as being a legal obligation and words like ‘do’ should’ as advice on good practice.
  One area that photographers need to consider is the possibility of people tripping or slipping over.
Slip and Trip Hazards Control measures:
In order to effectively control slip and trip risks, employers should:
  • Identify the hazards – look for slip and trip hazards around the location or photo studio.
  • Decide who might be harmed and how – look at who comes onto the location or photo studio, and whether they are at risk.
  • Consider the risks and decide if precautions already being taken are enough, or if more needs to be done.
  • Record the findings.
  • Review the assessment regularly and revise it if necessary.
Location or photo studio premises are varied and often complex sites. The measures to control the risks will vary according to the different areas of the location or photo studio and the different activities being undertaken. Each will need to be assessed separately and a range of practical measures adopted to control the risk depending on the assessment. The risk factors to consider include:
  • Environmental (floor, steps, slopes etc).
  • Contamination (water, food, litter etc).
  • Organisational (task, safety culture etc).
  • Footwear (for example, footwear worn for photographic sessions may not always be in line with sensible shoes for work).
  • Individual factors (eg information and training, 
supervision, pedestrian behaviour etc).”
The points above have been modified for the photographic studio.

Biblography.
  • Health and Safety Executive. 2012 Buildings used for locations or temporary studios in film and televison (online) Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/etis18.pdf (Accessed 9th February 2013).
  • Health and Safety Executive. Health and safety matters for special educational needs: Legal issues including risk assessment. (online) Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/edis3.pdf (Accessed 9th February 2013).