ABCs of Beautiful Light A Complete Course in Lighting for Photographers Rosanne Olson Amherst mediA, inc. BuffAlo, nY Dedication This book is dedicated to my mentor and friend, Brian Lanker (1947–2011), who hired me for my frst job at The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon. His sense of light was an inspiration to me. To my husband, Ted McMahon, whose support for me and my work means everything. And to my many students who have taught me so much. Thank you for your inspiration and input: Gregory Heisler, from whom I took my frst lighting class almost thirty years ago. Brandon Heiss of Westcott, Dion Baker, and Bill Seymour of Glazer’s Camera for their input. Bill Finger, fellow teacher. Meryl Alcabes, former student and reader of this book. And a special thanks to my assistant Gail Smith who patiently helped prepare and organize the many photos and releases for this book. Copyright © 2014 by Rosanne Olson. All rights reserved. All photographs by the author. Published by: Amherst Media, Inc. P.O. Box 586 Buffalo, N.Y. 14226 Fax: 716-874-4508 www.AmherstMedia.com Publisher: Craig Alesse Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt, Harvey Goldstein, Beth Alesse Associate Publisher: Kate Neaverth Editorial Assistance from: Carey A. Miller, Sally Jarzab, John S. Loder Business Manager: Adam Richards Warehouse and Fulfllment Manager: Roger Singo ISBN-13: 978-1-60895-717-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2014933299 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher. Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the author’s experience and opin- ions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book. Check out Amherst Media’s blogs at: http://portrait-photographer.blogspot.com/ http://weddingphotographer-amherstmedia.blogspot.com/ Table of Contents About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Light Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Assignment 6: The Arc of Light Height . . . . . . . . . . 38 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Light Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Light Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 1. The Groundwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Assignment 7: Light Distance and Angle. . . . . . . . . 39 Photography: A Blend of Art and Science . . . . . . . . .8 Assignment 8: Explore Hard and Soft Light Your Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Using a Ball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Aperture and Shutter Speed 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Light Modifers and Shapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Metering 101. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Light Stands and Booms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Assignment 1: Reciprocal Relationships. . . . . . . . . 13 Catchlights: Key to the Universe of Lighting . . . . . 45 Assignment 2: Light Scene, Dark Scene. . . . . . . . . .14 Assignment 9: Analyze Catchlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Histogram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Metering and Meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Color Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Light Ratios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 File Format: RAW vs. JPEG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Assignment 10: High Key, Low Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Notes and Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Art of Fill Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 File Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Assignment 11: Understand Light Ratios . . . . . . . . 52 Monitor Calibration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Inverse Square Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Assignment 12: Work with Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 2. The Importance of Design. . . . . 22 Rule of Thirds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 4. Continuous Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Camera Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Continuous NATURAL Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Depth of Field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Assignment 13: Practice with Window Light . . . . . 62 Lens Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Camera Controls for Creative Use Color and Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 of Continuous Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Assignment 14: Natural Light Projects Assignment 3: Identify Key Elements . . . . . . . . . . . 27 (Beginner Level). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Assignment 15: Natural Light Projects 3. The Language of Light . . . . . . . . . . . 28 (Advanced Level). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 What All Light Has in Common . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Continuous ARTIFICIAL Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Mood and Emotional Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Assignment 16: Light and Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 The Light Spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Color: Mixing It Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Assignment 4: Observe Mood Lighting in Practice . 29 Assignment 17: Research and Replication . . . . . . . 69 Assignment 5: How White Is White?. . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Still-Life Photography with Continuous Light . . . 70 Light Height and Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Assignment 18: Still-Life Experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 table of contents 3 Have Fun with Continuous Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Assignment 25: Fluorescent Light and Strobe . . . 108 Assignment 19: Painting with Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Assignment 26: Daylight and Tungsten . . . . . . . . . 109 Assignment 20: Portraits and Motion . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Front- and Rear- Curtain Flash Sync . . . . . . . . . . 110 Assignment 27: Front- or Rear-Curtain Sync . . . . .111 5. Strobe Light (Flash) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Assignment 28: Strobe Plus Flashlight . . . . . . . . . .111 What Is Strobe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Assignment 29: Strobes Plus Studio Hot Lights . . . 111 Modeling Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Why Use Strobe Lights?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 8. Dedicated Flash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 How Strobe Differs From Continuous Light . . . . 75 How Dedicated Flash Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Shutter Speed and Flash: Sync Speed . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Automatic Metering Modes (Such as Av or Tv). . 113 Assignment 21: Sync Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Flash Exposure Lock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Flash Duration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Getting Your Flash Off-Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Recycle Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Multiple Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Triggering the Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 High-Speed Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Strobe Modifers: The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Modifers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 Light Modifers in Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Bounce Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 The ABCs of Working with Strobes . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Assignment 30: Dedicated Flash Assignment 22: Work with Modifers . . . . . . . . . . . 86 with a Bounce Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Assignment 31: Dedicated Flash 6. Working in the Studio . . . . . . . . . . . 87 with Modifers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Backdrop Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Backdrop Height and Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 9. Working with How to Light the Backdrop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Portrait Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 How to Paint a Backdrop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Determine Your Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Lighting the Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Understand the Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Working with Multiple Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Assignment 32: Practice with Portraits . . . . . . . . . 119 Assignment 23: Multiple Light Setups. . . . . . . . . . . 99 Prepare, But Be Flexible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Skimming the Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Assignment 24: Group Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 10. Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 7. Mixing Strobe with Ambient . . 102 Addendum Two Exposures, One Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Notes for Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 How It Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Rainy Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Overcoming Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Concepts of Color with Mixed Lighting . . . . . . . 106 4 abcs of beautiful light About the Author osanne Olson is a portrait and fne-art photographer who Rholds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. Her diverse photography background ranges from newspaper and editorial photography to commercial jobs, including ad campaigns for the New York City Ballet, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Children’s Hospital (Seattle), and Swedish Medical Center. Rosanne’s work has been featured in various publications, such as Photo District News, View Camera, Lens Work, and Communication Arts. In 2008, she authored a book about women and body image titled This Is Who I Am: Our Beauty in All Shapes and Sizes (Artisan Books). She has also won numerous awards, including nine times in Communication Arts annuals and more than a dozen times in Graphis photo annuals. In 2013, she won a PX3 award (Paris) for her newest fne art series, entitled Rapture. Rosanne has taught courses and workshops on lighting, portraiture, and creativity at Photo Center Northwest, Santa Fe Workshops, Photo Plus Expo, the WPPI national convention, various high schools and universities, and in her Seattle studio. There are many ways to approach the art of teaching photography, and especially lighting. Rosanne brings an undergraduate degree in science to her teaching. Her approach is to instill curiosity and a sense of inquiry in her students. Through this book you will learn to understand light and its effects. You will never look at a photograph or painting in the same way after you learn about light. Everything is lit by one source or another. The questions are: what and how? That is what this book is designed to teach you. To learn more about Rosanne Olson, please visit www.rosanneolson.com. about the author 5 Introduction e are surrounded by light every Wmoment of every day—light that A Little Story washes over the streets on a summer morning, Years ago, fresh out of graduate school, I neon signs that beckon from stores and flling was hired as a photographer at The Register- stations, yellowish feld lights that illuminate an Guard in Eugene, Oregon, by Pulitzer Prize– evening football game. Whether it’s headlights, winning photographer Brian Lanker, who was candlelight, moonlight, or incandescent light, head of the photo department. At that time, I all visible light emanates from a part of the owned one camera and two lenses (a 35mm and 85mm). They had gotten me through electromagnetic spectrum that photographers my master’s degree project, a series about work with on a daily basis. children with cancer, photographed on black & white flm with existing light only. But now I was in a whole new world. It takes practice, practice, practice At the R-G, I was plunged into a modern to perfect the skills and train your eye newspaper that used big photos, in color, in beautifully designed layouts. The newspaper to see the subtleties of light. had a studio with giant strobe lights that no one really knew how to use. There was no fash meter, Polaroid, or modifers. For the artist, photographer, cinematographer, When I received my frst food and lighting designer, light is everything. We are assignment—a story about liver—I realized profoundly affected by the color, position and I had a lot to learn, and fast! I contacted quality of a light source. Once we learn to master a food photographer for help (keep the lighting, it becomes a tool by which we tell our light height low, he advised), but the use of stories. When we tell our stories well, we reach artifcial lights seemed so daunting. Then I people deeply. That is the power of light. signed up for a workshop in California with In this book, you will learn lighting principles Gregory Heisler. That, for me, was a life- for photography, video, and art in general. This changing week. I learned about the power of light and what could be done with just one includes how the angles and heights of your or two lights. From there, I went back and light sources affect your pictures. For example, started to experiment. Greg’s class instilled a a photograph lit by a source that is at a low angle life-long love of the power of light. That love will have a completely different feel from one lit of light is what I want to share with all who by a high-angled source. You will learn to work read this book. with light modifers to change the quality of your 6 abcs of beautiful light light and how you can control light to create a ABCs of Beautiful Light leads you step-by-step, feeling of depth and dimension. using graphics and demonstrations. Included are The lessons are divided into sections that take assignments that relate to the information in the the photographer through a logical sequence of book. You can work at your own pace and level instruction. I have used this method in my classes and you can journey through this book more than for many years and the results (and reviews) from once. I recommend starting with an inexpensive my students tell me that this works. mannequin head to learn the basics. When you We begin with the most accessible: natural are comfortable with your skills, move on to real light. We then move on to artifcial continuous people. Learning about light is like learning a light, strobe, mixing ambient light with strobes new language. It takes practice, practice, practice and, fnally, to dedicated fash. You will learn to perfect the skills and train your eye to see the about hard light versus soft light, how to achieve subtleties of light. texture, how to use light to help people look younger or thinner or more powerful, and how to create beautiful lighting for portraits outdoors. This portrait of singer Jessie Marquez was made using a combination of ambient light and strobe light, which will be addressed later in the book. introduction 7 1. The Groundwork Photography: A Note to All Who Enter . . . A Blend of Art and Science Photography is everywhere in our lives: our This book is densely packed with information. If this is new material for you, please read it families’ treasured black & white images, our slowly section by section. Take time to absorb smart phones, digital point-and-shoot cameras, the lessons and practice the assignments so and professional cameras. Photographs allow us the material will sink deeply into your practice to record our personal histories from birth to of photography. When you have mastered one death. Photography is art. Photography is science. section, then move on to the next. Enjoy the The wonderful thing about photography is how it process! makes us alive to every aspect of our lives. For those who are familiar with the basics, You, reading this book, are more deeply you can skim (not skip) chapter 1. Otherwise, interested in photography than the average begin here. It never hurts to start at the beginning, again and again. person. Photographers today need to learn not only about cameras, lenses, storytelling, and light, but also about techniques to manage the digital and get organized. Take at least a preliminary look fles created with every exposure—so we can work at this section and then, as you delve more deeply with them, fle them, fnd them, and make use of into your photography, you can revisit it. our images in the future. Just as you must prepare the soil to grow a garden, you must develop skills Your Camera that will allow your photography to fourish. The best way to learn about lighting is with a Below are some topics I want to introduce you digital camera for the immediate feedback it to before we proceed with lighting. Some of you provides. There is a wide selection of digital may already understand exposure and some of cameras out there from very sophisticated point- you may have a way of managing your fles, but and-shoot cameras to high-quality “prosumer” I fnd that many people live in a world of photo cameras that have interchangeable lenses, to chaos. That may work in the short term; in the professional cameras with all the bells and long term, however, it’s better to get informed whistles you could ask for. It is not necessary Miranda Weese was photographed for a New York City Ballet ad campaign. The location was a spiral staircase in a building near Wall Street in New York City. I used a strobe with a grid on it from a high angle to create a theatrical feeling—as if she were basking in stage light after a performance, surrounded by roses. The rest of the shot was lit with ambient light, some of which came from the windows at the top left of the frame. 8 abcs of beautiful light the groundwork 9