Today’s Post by Joe Farace
One question I’m often asked is where did I learn studio lighting? If you haven’t figured it out yet by the title of this blog post, I’ll repeat it— I strongly believe that the best way to learn studio lighting is by doing it.
That is not to sell short the various convention and program speakers who present their studio lighting techniques to rapt audiences. I think these kinds of presentations can really be valuable at two points in your studio lighting learning curve”
- These kinds of programs are useful in the beginning of the learning process, although truth be told it’s a never-ending process. Heck, I even offer one-on-one workshops to help you get started in studio lighting.
- It’s also helpful on the other end, when you can learn how to refine the techniques you’ve actually been practicing, In between, it’s learning by doing. The best way to get to Carnegie Hall, as the story goes is practice, practice and practice some more.
And you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment. Today’s featured portrait was made early in my pursuit if learning lighting for glamour photography. The lighting equipment consisted of an inexpensive, store-brand “hot light” that was placed at camera right, while an inexpensive store brand reflector was at camera left. Even the background was some kind of funky muslin that I picked up, who knows where.
How I Made this Portrait: Lighting setup and gear is available in the previous paragraph. Camera was my beloved (but now sold) Canon EOS-1D Mark IIN with Canon’s inexpensive EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 at 125mm. The Av mode exposure was 1/80 sec at f/5 and ISO 640 with a plus one-third stop exposure compensation.
Practicing portrait lighting is not always that easy because you need a subject to practice with. For many years I used Mary as a subject but at the time I also had access to many other models that were interested in getting free photographs. You see, I give each model I photograph their chose of a flash drive or CD of every image we make to take home with her. And the images may be used any way they want. It is a full trade with each party offering their time and energy to create great looking images together. These days finding new models have been a challenge. And like many photographers I can’t afford to pay a model for practice sessions because there is no budget for it.
Recently I’ve had several companies offer to loan me photographic and lighting equipment—a typical loan is two weeks, sometimes a month—but I was unable to find a model within that time to shoot with their gear to see what it (and I) can do with it and share the results with you on this blog. So I’m asking readers in Colorado if you or someone you know might be interested in posing for me, please click the CONTACT tab and let’s talk.
My book Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography is full of tips, tools and techniques for glamour and boudoir photography with new copies available from Amazon for $34.95. Used copies start for the bargain price around nine bucks, which seems like a hard-to-beat price for this useful and practical book. The Kindle version is $19.99 for those preferring a digital format.