DAVID BUSCH’S QUICK SNAP GUIDE TO LIGHTING David D. Busch Course Technology PTR A part of Cengage Learning Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States David Busch’s Quick Snap Guide to Lighting © 2009 David D. Busch. Course Technology David D. Busch 25 Thomson Place ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright Boston, MA 02210 herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by USA any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to Publisher and General Manager, Course photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, Technology PTR: information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, Stacy L. 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David Busch's Quick Snap Guide to Lighting Acknowledgments nce again thanks to the folks at Course Technology, who have pioneered publishing digital imaging books in full color at a price anyone can afford. Special thanks to executive editor Kevin Harreld, Owho always gives me the freedom to let my imagination run free with a topic, as well as my veteran production team including project editor Jenny Davidson, and technical editor Mike Sullivan. Also thanks to Mike Tanamachi, cover designer; Bill Hartman, layout; and my agent, Carole McClendon, who has the amazing ability to keep both publishers and authors happy. iv About the Author About the Author ith more than a million books in print, David D. Busch is one of the best-selling authors of books on digital photography and imaging technology, and the originator of popular series like WDavid Busch’s Pro Secrets and David Busch’s Quick Snap Guides. He has written seven hugely successful guidebooks for Nikon digital SLR models, and six additional user guides for other camera models, as well as many popular books devoted to dSLRs, including Mastering Digital SLR Photography, Second Edition and Digital SLR Pro Secrets. As a roving photojournalist for more than 20 years, he illustrated his books, magazine articles, and newspaper reports with award-winning images. He’s operated his own com- mercial studio, suffocated in formal dress while shooting weddings-for-hire, and shot sports for a daily news- paper and upstate New York college. His photos have been published in magazines as diverse as Scientific American and Petersen’s PhotoGraphic, and his articles have appeared in Popular Photography & Imaging, The Rangefinder, The Professional Photographer, and hundreds of other publications. He’s also reviewed dozens of digital cameras for CNet and Computer Shopper. When About.com named its top five books on Beginning Digital Photography, debuting at the #1 and #2 slots were Busch’s Digital Photography All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies and Mastering Digital Photography. During the past year, he’s had as many as five of his books listed in the Top 20 of Amazon.com’s Digital Photography Bestseller list—simultaneously! Busch’s 100-plus other books published since 1983 include bestsellers like David Busch’s Quick Snap Guide to Using Digital SLR Lenses. He is a member of the Cleveland Photographic Society, which has been in continuous operation since 1887, and can be located at www.clevelandphoto.org. v David Busch's Quick Snap Guide to Lighting Contents Preface................................................................................................x Introduction ........................................................................................xi Basics of Good Lighting and Exposure ..................................................1 1 High-Contrast Lighting .........................................................................................2 Low-Contrast Lighting...........................................................................................4 High-Key Lighting................................................................................................6 Low-Key Lighting .................................................................................................8 Light and the Exposure Triangle ..........................................................................10 F/Stops ...........................................................................................................12 Shutter Speeds..................................................................................................14 Focal Planes and Shutter Speeds.................................................................14 Adjusting Exposure with ISO Settings ..................................................................18 Optimizing Exposure .........................................................................21 2 Metering Modes ...............................................................................................22 Evaluative/Matrix .....................................................................................22 Partial......................................................................................................22 Spot ........................................................................................................22 Center-Weighted .......................................................................................23 Averaging................................................................................................23 Aperture Priority ...............................................................................................24 Shutter Priority ..................................................................................................26 Programmed Exposure Modes ............................................................................30 Manual Exposure..............................................................................................32 Adjusting Exposure/EV......................................................................................34 Bracketing .......................................................................................................36 Histograms.......................................................................................................38 Gray Cards, Light Meters, and Do-It-Yourself Exposure...........................................40 vi Contents Available Light ..................................................................................43 3 White Balance .................................................................................................44 Manual White Balance..............................................................................46 Creating Your Own White Balance Settings .................................................47 Color and Mood...............................................................................................48 Filling in Shadows.............................................................................................52 Using Reflectors ................................................................................................54 White Poster Board ...................................................................................54 Foam Board .............................................................................................54 Aluminum Foil...........................................................................................55 Mylar Sheets ............................................................................................55 Auto Sunscreens .......................................................................................55 Umbrellas ................................................................................................56 Black Cardboard or Cloth ..........................................................................57 Polarizing Filters ...............................................................................................58 Polarizers and Wide-Angle Lenses...............................................................60 Lighting and the Sky..........................................................................................62 Using Graduated Neutral Density Filters ......................................................64 Electronic Flash Fundamentals ............................................................67 4 How Flash Works..............................................................................................68 Types of Portable Electronic Flash........................................................................70 Built-in Flash .............................................................................................71 Add-on Flash ............................................................................................73 Studio Flash..............................................................................................73 Using Flash Creatively .......................................................................................74 Bounce Flash ............................................................................................74 Flash on a Bracket.....................................................................................76 Off-Camera Flash......................................................................................77 Multiple Flash ...........................................................................................77 Paint with Light .........................................................................................77 vii David Busch's Quick Snap Guide to Lighting Determining Exposure........................................................................................78 Automatic TTL Flash Exposure .....................................................................78 Guide Numbers ........................................................................................79 Flash Meters .............................................................................................79 Choosing a Flash Sync Mode.............................................................................80 Ghost Images ...........................................................................................81 High-Speed (FP) Sync ................................................................................83 Studio Flash .....................................................................................................84 Fill Flash ..........................................................................................................88 Using Portrait Lighting Tools ...............................................................91 5 Soft Lighting and Distance..................................................................................92 Balancing Light.................................................................................................94 The Inverse Square Law .............................................................................94 Using Lighting Ratios .................................................................................94 Using a Main Light............................................................................................98 Fill Light .........................................................................................................100 Other Lights ...................................................................................................102 Background Light ....................................................................................102 Hair Light ...............................................................................................102 Reflectors ...............................................................................................103 Umbrellas ......................................................................................................104 Soft Boxes......................................................................................................106 Strip Lights .............................................................................................108 Portrait Lighting Techniques..............................................................111 6 Lighting Setup Basics .......................................................................................112 Split Lighting ..................................................................................................114 Side/Profile Lighting........................................................................................116 Backlighting ...........................................................................................117 45-Degree Lighting .........................................................................................118 Short Lighting .................................................................................................120 viii Contents Broad Lighting................................................................................................122 Butterfly Lighting .............................................................................................124 Rembrandt Lighting .........................................................................................126 Lighting and Action..........................................................................129 7 Indoor Lighting ...............................................................................................130 Fast Shutter Speeds .........................................................................................132 Slow Shutter Speeds........................................................................................136 Outdoor Lighting.............................................................................................140 Flash or Existing Light? ....................................................................................144 Close-up and Macro Lighting............................................................147 8 Lighting Challenges.........................................................................................148 Magnification and Perspective..........................................................................150 Working with Existing Light ..............................................................................152 Working with Electronic Flash...........................................................................154 Working with Continuous Lighting.....................................................................156 High- and Low-Contrast Close-ups .....................................................................160 Tent Lighting ...................................................................................................162 Travel and Architecture ....................................................................165 9 Choosing the Best Light and Best Angle .............................................................166 Monuments and Museums................................................................................168 Interiors .........................................................................................................170 Mixed Illumination ..........................................................................................174 Sunsets and Sunrises .......................................................................................176 Night Lighting ................................................................................................178 Fireworks .......................................................................................................182 Water, Beaches, and Snow..............................................................................184 Glossary .........................................................................................188 Index ..............................................................................................196 ix