Ever look at a photo and wonder how it was taken? I do it ALL the time. As soon as I view a photo in a magazine I start to evaluate the lighting. I try to see if it was shot with natural light or if strobes or flashes were introduced. I look at the angles of the shadows and the highlights. I also try to determine if it was posed or if was a natural capture. I put images I like into my memory banks then I try to recreate it if I can. It really helps to keep a folder with images torn out from magazines as a reference. As a professional photographer you constantly have to come up with inventive and creative ways to capture a photographic moment. You also want to capture the moment unlike anyone else who is there shooting that same moment. This is what will separate a professional photographer from the hobbyist.
Here’s a senior portrait I took of Adriana. If you look close you can figure out my lighting setup. First look into her eyes. The eyes can tell-tale so much. The reflection in her eyes, called catchlights, show a fairly large rectangular or square light source placed just to the left of the camera. The background is well lighted so it suggests that there were probably additional lights focused on the background. The white background is also acting like a giant reflector and allowing some of its light to be shed onto the backside of the subject. This photo was taken in the studio. I shot this with a Nikon D100 and used some radio triggers (see more info below) attached to an Alien Bee B1600 studio light placed just the left of the camera. There is a 100cm square softbox placed over the light to soften the light. Two more Alien Bee B1600’s were used to light the white background. A 40″ round reflector was placed to the right of the model to eliminate some of the shadows on her face.
The thing is, you are not always in a studio where you can precisely control your lighting setup. When you’re on location you’ll have to rely on the ever changing natural light or make your own light using your on-camera flash.
One way, in my opinion, to improve the look of your photos is to get the flash off the camera. This can be done in several different ways. First, just using a flash attachment on your camera will help. If you purchased a DSLR and you are only using the pop-up flash to light your subjects, get an external flash attachment. You will see a huge improvement in your images almost immediately. Nikon and Canon call their flash attachments SpeedLights. The 430EX II and the 530EX II are popular models for Canon and the SB-600, SB-800 and the new SB-900 are very popular with Nikon users. The different models vary on the amount of power each emit and various control options. It will give you much more control and more light compared to the pop-up flash that is attached to your camera. But, the light will still be coming from the direction in which you point your lens. That means the shadows on your subjects will be harsh and very directional.
You can soften the light and take the edge off the harshness by bouncing the light off the ceiling or a wall. The SpeedLights listed above all have flash heads that swivel and rotate. You can point the flash toward the ceiling and get a very soft effect from the light that is being reflected back to your subject. The shadows will have a softer line and look more pleasing. If you attach a 3×5 index card to the flash head with a rubber band, some of the light will now be reflected toward your subject as well as bounced and reflected from the ceiling. In the shot below, I was in a very small hotel bathroom. The bridesmaid was getting her last minute touch ups before getting dressed. I’m using my Fuji S5 Pro camera with an SB-800 attached and pointed toward the ceiling. I fixed a small white business card to the flash head to divert some of the light directly toward the bridesmaid. As you can see, the image doesn’t really look like I used a flash at all. The shadows look natural and soft.
Here’s another very similar shot. Again, I’m using my Fuji S5 Pro but this time I attached an SB-600 pointed toward the ceiling. I am using a white plastic adjustable reflector, aptly named the Jumbo Flip-It, instead of a business card to direct some of the light toward the subjects. It’s manufactured by Joe Demb. The shadows look pleasing and natural. If I used direct flash, the shadows on her cheeks and under her chin & nose would disappear and the image would appear very flat.
Still another way to change the lighting effect is to completely remove the flash from your camera and place it several feet away. Modern flashes can be triggered remotely (off the camera) using infrared (IR) light, radio signal transmitters or through cables. In this example I have an SB-600 wired directly to my camera via six foot coiled cord. I’m holding the flash in one handle and the camera in the other. The lighting is much more dramatic here and adds to the feel of a party atmosphere.
Many Nikon cameras use the pop-up flash as a remote triggering system that will sync the camera to your remote SpeedLights via a series of quick flashes. They call it Creative Lighting System or CLS. Your flash “sees” and interprets the series of flashes and sets it’s power level before syncing itself for proper timing for image exposure.
This image of Michele and Sean was taken with my SB-600 mounted on an eight foot light stand. I placed the light stand on one side of the dance floor and positioned myself on the opposite side of the dance floor. This gave me a great halo-effect on the happy couple as they danced. The lighting gave a sense of the mood – as it looks to be coming from a deejay setup or from stage lighting.
There is really only one thing needed to capture a picture with your camera. Light. Controlling that light and capturing it is the task we try to master. I hope this inspires you to try to create and take better control of your own light with a SpeedLight accessory or even a studio flash. And remember, study other photographers’ photos and try to figure out how he or she lit the image.
