How to Get the Most out of Your Lighting

Huynh NguyenNovember 7, 2022

How to Get the Most out of Your Lighting

Whether you want to shoot portraits, pets, food, or macro, a set of studio lights will make your photos clearer and more professional, something that is otherwise much harder to achieve. It opens the door to complete control. By the way, if you view and edit photos on your phone, read an interesting article on the best free filters app on Skylum’s blog.

At first, mastering a studio flash can seem like a daunting task. There are a lot of decisions to make: what exposure settings to use? How to arrange the light? What modifiers will work best? What flash output do you use? All of these hurdles are easy to overcome if you have some knowledge. In today’s article, we will shed some light on the subject.

Why use studio lighting?

The main reason to work with studio lighting is quality and control. The power of the flash provides the ability to shoot at low ISOs, getting maximum quality with minimal noise. In addition, the extra light gives you much more control. You decide how to position the lights – top, bottom, front, back – it’s all up to preference and imagination. Then you can control the exposure. We can decide for ourselves what it will be, rather than letting the available light dictate the rules of the game.

Lamp, softbox, umbrella

The main reason to work with studio lighting is that there are a huge number of modifiers that allow you to influence the nature of the light. The basic kit usually includes a softbox and an umbrella, but there is always the option to shoot without them. When shooting with a lamp the light source can be very small, like the midday sun on a cloudless sky. The resulting light is very sharp.

By adding an umbrella or softbox, we increase the size of the light source, making it more diffuse and the shadows softer. The softbox is the winner because the shadows are soft, but they don’t lose their contours. It is much more difficult to control the dispersion of light when using an umbrella, because it is reflected from all the surrounding walls and surfaces, filling the shadows.

One bulb or two?

At first, the idea of using both monoblocs may seem very appealing. However, if you are new to studio photography, it is better to start with one. Get used to positioning the bulb, and adjusting the wattage and exposure; then when you get the hang of it, start experimenting with two.

When working with two or more flashes it is very useful to practice building up the lighting by taking test shots with one lamp on at a time. This way you can see how each flash affects the overall result and you can achieve harmonious lighting faster. Master this technique and a world of endless possibilities will open up for you.

Combination of flash and natural light

Combining natural light and flash is not the easiest technique. I have no problem working with it, but when someone asks me to explain it, I just get lost. There’s one very significant reason why it’s difficult to understand the principles of this technique: when you use it, you’re relying on the rules of shooting two different kinds of light at once.

You can be the best studio photographer around, but that doesn’t mean you’re good at shooting in sunlight. Similarly, if you’re great with natural light, chances are you’re ignoring flashes because you find them too bright and create an unnatural look.

What do you do if your shot is too dark or too bright? Don’t rush to change the exposure settings – try adjusting the flash output! That way you won’t get even more lost by starting to adjust your camera settings first, adjusting them again for natural light, then for the flash, etc. If you have tried all the features of the flash, but the picture is still too bright even at minimum power or vice versa, you will have to change the camera settings.

In fact, everything is quite straightforward. The main thing is to remember the essence of the method and not to forget the order of work. Then you will never have problems combining the flash and natural light. If you shoot outdoors you need a more powerful flash, indoors a standard flash will do. Once again, let’s go through all these points:

Select the settings for natural light exposure.
Add the flash.
Adjust the flash output.
If the previous point does not help, change the exposure settings.

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