Characteristics of Studio Photography

Our tutor asked us to create a slideshow to present to the class to demonstrate our knowledge of the characteristics of studio photography.
I was placed with fellow students Fanni and Jonathon.

Due to the short amount of time we had (due to the three of us being absent) I suggested we all have particular areas to focus on. I had Fashion & Beauty, Fanni had Product with various artists and Jon had People with artist Eric Kellerman as his example. Each of us had to explain the client requirement or creative intent and also how the images we chose as examples were done ie. lighting, studio setup, composition etc etc

I have added a link to our prezzi, unfortunately the last part is missing at present as Fanni did a separate slide for her subjects and the link does not appear to be working and I am still waiting for the correct link. I will update as soon as she provides me with said link
Charateristics of Studio Photography

Lea x

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Product Photography Low Key

This week we have been experimenting with Low key product photography.

Product photography is an extension of commercial photography which is about accurately but attractively representing a product. The principal application of product photography is in product catalogues and brochures, with a proportion of product images also being used in advertising.
The challenges of product photography are generally:

• To represent the product without distortion
• To represent the product in good lighting, with soft shadows and no identifiable reflections
• To photograph a range of products rapidly, one at a time, so that the shadows and light are consistent



Scoop

The main areas that product photgraphy are taken in are in a tent or on a scoop, with the necessary lighting to create the required effect.

Tent

These are generally used for HIGH KEY product photography whuch will be a featured post in the next week or so.

Today we are discussing LOW KEY and below are some examples of the kind of set up you need to achieve this technique.

Below was our set up:

TBC 

Studio lights and modifiers

I will be explaining to you in this post why and how to use light modifiers. I will also be going into detail about what kids of light modifiers are available out there to use in indoor/studio photography.

So to start off with, the light I will be referring to is a Bowen Gemini 500 compact flash monolight.

A monolight has all the settings and adjustments on the unit themselves. This makes them very portable but can lack in power.

A head light consists of a head light and power pack which are attached via a cable. They can be mains or battery operated.
Having all the head lights attached to the power pack can make it easier to afjust the flash heads as this can be done in one go rather than individually changing the settings of the monlights. That said, in most studio photography each flash head tends to be on a different output to aquire the desired effect.

I think head lights would be more useful for outdoor photography when available light is not enough and needs to be powerful enough to overcome the sun.. Mono loghts are ideal for indoor studio photography as they take up less space, more versatile and provide enough power for the indor studio lighting techniques.

IMPORTANT: NEVER change a light modifier when the light is turned on. You could easily break the tube and get a nasty electric shock.

HEAD ACCESORIES:

Reflector modifier:

Most lights come with a standard reflector, if possible, a zoom reflector is ideal as it enables you to control the light without having to swap and change. A wider reflector setting gives a larger softer pool of light whereas a narrow reflectors gives a small harsh direct pool of light. 







Now once you have your reflector you can attach other modifiers onto this such as:


Barn door modifier 

Theses often come in kits like this:

This kit consists of the Barn door which allows you to direct the light onto different parts of your subject. You can create narrow strips of light, wide or when attaching a grid ( like the one attached) you can create a more harsh direct light. The honeycomb on the grid prevents the light from spilling.So in turn, the small the honeycomg, the tighter the light.
The gels clips over similar to a GOBO (see further down)
to create erm.....colour.


Snoot Modifier

A snoot attaches to the light head and creates a diect intense channel of ligh on the subject, obviously the closer to the subject it is, the more direct the light is, whilst moving away creates a larger but still direct area of light.








The next modifier is an Umbrella

One of the most commen of modifiers are the umbrellas.

Reflecting umbrellas produce a diffused and soft light due to the larger size of the reflecting surface. They are attached so  that the strobe light is actually facing away from the subject or model. Light flies from the strobe head hitting the inside of the umbrella and then bounces back towards the subject.
There are silver-lined, white, and gold tinted umbrellas. Silver-lined umbrellas are the most efficient and can focus light more narrowly than the other types. White umbrellas offer a wider spread of reflected light, and gold umbrellas produce a warm tone.







A Soft box is a type of photographic lighting device,
one of a number of photographic soft light devices. wiki

Softboxes come in a wide range of shapes and sizes in order to produce the desired affect. They can be packed flat and almost all have an metal adapter called a speedring to enable it to be attached to most flash head units.

A softbox square diffuses the light in a soft but direct angle.
A softbox Octa, sometimes known as a octabox diffuses and directs the light with a much softer edge with more wrap round light.
A strip light is ideal for full length portraits as they direct and diffuse light across that full length. They are useful for placing on the groundangled upright to highlight texture in surfaces.

In regards to  beauty portraits, the octabox or a flash ring would be my favourite. The catch lights are far more attractive.


Last but not least are the light grips and stands:

These are used to support your light sourse, modifiers and even back drops.
There are different stands available. The more heavy duty one is called a C stand, which could be used outdoors (in windy conditions)  or for heavier objects to be held like heavyduty backgrounds.
They are also stronger and more sturdier to use with a boom arm.
A boom arm is an extension to the light stand that allows the light/modifier to almost float in the air. To be positioned overhead.
 

 

 

I hope this post has been informative and gives you a better idea as to what flash lights and their modifiers can do for you in regards to studio lighting.

Throughout my blog you will come across various examples of these modifiers and example images of what they can do!

 

Lea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High Speed Photography

High speed photography is a technique used to capture moving objects with a very fast shutter speed and/or flash.

Equipment generally needed is:

• A camera- SLR would be idea and also one that can produce long exposures and manual focusing.
• A flash unit - a flash that can be adjusted to different power values would be ideal, a speedlight flash is perfect for beginners. The flash is needed to freeze the motion of the said object
• Tripod - To eliminate camera shake when holding the camera, A remote trigger would be useful too, again to eliminate camera shake when pressing the shutter button.
• Objects.......camera, fruit, veg etcetc

A DARK ROOM is essential as this allows you to set your camera up at a long exposure (around 8secs). The flash will control the exposure time. This is because, with basic equipment alone, the cameras shutter is not quick enough to capture the moving object. Flash is quicker so using this method will allow the camera to capture the object when the flash exposes the said object. 

Another point to bare in mind is that the lower powered the flash unit is the faster the burst duration. So for example, to create an exposure time of less that 1/16000 of a second you would need to lower your flash to 1/16

Now the next point to take into account is HOW TO TRIGGER THE FLASH. This can be done a number of ways. There are triggers that set off by sound, which would've been perfect for our balloon popping experiment (see further down in post). We just relied on good old faithful eyes and ears and reflexes!

We had three stations set up for our high speed photography...

For the Balloon Popping set up we had a backdrop stand set up with a length of fishing wire (for transparency) tied to the centre. The filled water balloon would then dangle from this over a waste bin (which should catch the excess water when popped). We had a stick with a pin taped to the end to pop the balloon.
The camera was on manual setting of a 2 second timer, f/8, ISO 100, 10 second shutter speed. The camera was then attached to a tripod and then lined up and manually focused on the dangled balloon. We also had a second camera on AUTO settings to be the flash.
There were three of us in the group, Julie, Fanni and I. I hit the shutter, after the timer we counted down from three, on one, Julie triggered the flash on the other camera whilst simultaneously Fanni popped the balloon with the stick.

Now this required PERFECT timing and took quite a few attempts to get it just right. Here is our best shot! A few fun ones thrown in for good measure too!

 

 

For the Balloon Dropping set up, our station was the product scoop. We placed a small blob of blu-tac on the base to act as a target for the water balloon to drop on. A tripod was set up in front with the camera attached. The camera attached was on a manual setting of 2 second timer, ISO 100, f/5.6 with a shutter speed of 10 seconds, along with the second camera on AUTO to act as the flash to freeze time!

 

For the Fish Tank set up we had a Transparent rectangular fish tank fill 3/4 full of water. With a large piece of white card situated behind the tank we had a tripod with a camera set up on a manual setting the same as the Balloon Popping experiment although we did remove the 2 second timer as we thought it was unnecessary. The second camera used again on auto as the flash.

Photography studio Health & Safety

Health & Safety in the studio is a must.  To prevent any accidents from happening to yourself, staff and clients the below rules must be applied:

• Ensure there are no loose cables, using hazard tape or duct tape secure all loose cables to prevent them becoming a tripping hazard.
• When setting up the studio lights please take care that all tripod stands have the single leg aligned with the light fitting and the other 2 legs at the back, this prevents the stands tipping. Also take care to allow enough room for staff and models to manoeuvre in a safe manner around the studio ensuring that all lightstands are positioned accordingly for the desired effect but also in a safe manner.
• When changing attachment such as a soft box to a snoot, extra care needs to taken as the model lights become very hot and can burn. If moving to a different location ALWAYS place the protective cover back onto the light unit, this prevents damage to the bulbs and burns.
• When using the light fittings such as snoots etc please ensure that they are secured correctly before moving the stand and using.
• Never leave the studio unattended

• When packing away, ensure all light fittings are put away securely, if hung up please ensure that they are secured to the wall and above head height to prevent them falling and people banging their heads.
• Place the light unit covers on securely before packing away into a secure place such as a cupboard or box, taking extra care to wrap any loose wiring.

Please take note that each studio setup is different and the above guideline is only general. A more specific check list must be applied to each studio shoot based on the equipment, props and persons involved.

A general health & safety risk assessment should be carried out upon opening the studio on a daily basis. Please see the following link to view an example health and safetly risk assessment

John French

JOHN FRENCH (1906–1966) PHOTOGRAPHER

During the 1950s and 60s John French was one of the leading photographers in the fashion world.  


The models he worked with included the most famous of the time, many were debutantes who went on to become well-known society figures. French persuaded the art editors of the national press to use his flawlessly lit images of top models and his work appeared in virtually every newspaper and magazine. 

Anne Gunning

Helen Bunney, photo John French. London, UK, 1957

Marla Scarafia in a Federica printed cotton sunsuit, photo John French. London, UK, 1958

Barbara Miura with Madame Crystal printed rayon poult handbag and neck tie, photo John French. London, UK, 1953
 

 



Susan Abraham in a John Cavanagh tiered evening jacket, dress and hat, photo John French. London, UK, 1954
 

Susan Abraham in Brilkie spotted evening dress and June Clarke in Baker Sportswear floral evening dress, photo John French. London, UK, 1954

High Key lighting
 

  

Grace Coddington in a Nina Ricci suit, photo John French. England, 1965

I think this was acheived with a softbox to the left of the camera, facing head on to the model. A reflector may have been used to bounce a soft light back up under the chin also.

 


Patterns galore!
 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 


The images above I think were achieved by using High Key and Low Key light set ups with a light modifier similar to a Gobo. The gobo I'm assuming has paisley and floral patterns on it. Maybe he used a barn door in order to isolate the light/pattern to particular areas of the models? I am now on a mission to achieve this look during my photoshoot on Tuesday so watch this space.........

 John French used mainly medium format cameras, usually preferring his Hasselblad or Rolleiflex cameras. He doesnt seem to appeal to any aspiring photographers, but his contribution shows that you don’t have to use much to get what you want, and it’s the photographer and his use of the light, not how much or how expensive his equipment is, that gets the perfect shot.