Outside Lighting Workshops

General equipment for these tasks:

• D-SLR
• Bowen lights
• Battery pack (for light)
• Wiresless flash trigger
• Flash sync cables
• Power cables
• White/silver/gold reflector
• Lighting meter

Workshop One:

This lighting workshop was an introduction on ‘how to’ do lighting on location, and show us the technical skills that are needed to operate and work with the lights to gain results from blended light (natural and artificial light.) We were split into two groups and taken to two different locations so that we could work with more than one kind of lighting situation. The first set up I was faced with was a graffiti wall in bright sunshine. The objective was to create a dark, moody atmospheric background and the model to be in perfect lighting. We got onto location and unpacked our equipment. The first thing to do was to set up the lighting stand to make sure it was safe. As a safety precaution, you can wrap the wire of the battery pack connected to the light source around the stand and tuck it in-between the legs of the stand to create a more sturdy, it also causes less of a trip hazard to people around you. We then proceeded to connect the light to the battery pack using the power cable. At the end of the cable (where it connects to the battery pack) it is essential that you plug in the power cable, and use the plastic accessory to plug in the other socket because this is a socket not in use and the accessory is a dead plug.

Now that the light is set up with a battery pack, you can turn the power on (which is the on switch with two lines ‘II’, this is the setting for battery power.) If you set the battery to recycle slowly, you can save power (this just means the light will take longer to re-charge after each flash.)

The next step was to take out the camera to set up the first shot so that we had a darker background to the model in the foreground. You should also shoot in RAW format because this gives better detail to images and compresses less for better definition. You should always format your SD card too. It is important that to remember that when you use flash lights, due to the sync speed between the camera and flash that you can not use a shutter speed high that 1/125^th second, this is because the shutter closes too quickly cropping some of the image. The use of pre-visualization comes in handy when doing studio shoots; this is so you can understand how the lighting will fall and determine the lighting setup.

As I said before, the kind of image we had to produce was one with a similar effect as the beach portraits that Rineke Dijkstra created (shown below.) The idea behind this was to use a found location and use whatever we found as a background for the portrait. This was to be darker than the foreground to create an atmosphere.

The above images are a simple lighting set up which requires only one direct flash and the use of a reflector. The outcome should appear as if the subject is separate from the background as the flash is unable to light the environment as it is too far away. By creating a darker background, you cause the subject in the foreground to stand out more.

On the day we were shooting, the sun was very bright with very little cloud coverage so we had to work with very vivid natural light. However, this made it difficult to get the correct settings for the camera as the weather and lighting conditions changed so frequently. Using studio lighting previously, I knew that only light would be needed for creating this look, and that the model wouldn’t need to be close to the background at all but as a group of different abilities, I added in feedback just to bounce ideas of one another. Below is an image of our set up and the lighting diagram:

Image taken by Natalia

From this, we took readings from both the background and foreground, we knew that if we wanted to background darker than the foreground we’d need a stop down for the light. However, this first set up was unsuccessful as the bright sunlight was overtaking the flash. This meant we got an evenly lit background and foreground (shown below.) The models distance from the background was at about 4-5 meters, and the flash did not have an effect on the model as the weather conditions were too bright.

After realising that this set up was unsuccessful, we re-arranged out set up: (shown below)

As you can see, the different between this set up and the previous one is that we moved the model significantly (about 20 meters) and the lighting still the same but brought the model in closer. The next step was to increase the power of the flash from 1 to 3.

This was the result we created with the above lighting diagram. It was not perfect and needed more changes to the set up. Whilst photographing in this set up, we could not catch the light correctly to expose both sides evenly, this was what we needed to change. However, by moving the model forward (away from the background significantly) we were able to create the darker atmospheric background desired. After this, we continued to create a new set up.

We were able to resolve our problems by using the above set up and created the image below.

Our next location was situated in an alley way with steal gates at one end. With this we were able to use the gates as a means of casting shadows and trying out different ways of using the natural lighting coming into the alley. As a group, we decided to use the corner of the alley next to the gate as a background, along with the brick wall. We positioned the light behind the bars shining through to the other side (shown below.) Our initial idea for this set up was to have the light coming through the bars of the gate and to cast shadow onto the model.

Here’s the result achieved with the above diagram. This wasn’t the look we were going for, and the light was too bright/close to the model. After this, we took a different approach to photograph through the bars rather on the same side as the model. The light was set too high, and this is what caused the over exposed white face on the model and the other side of the face to be casted into shadow. Even though we used a reflector to balance the two sides of the face, it wasn’t enough compared to the strength of the light.

We continued to change our set up again. This involved the camera being on the opposite side of the bars from the model:

This set up worked well, however the first few images we took were too overexposed and created a washed out white exposure on the face. We resolved this by turning down the flash power. With these settings (shown below) we were able to create an atmosphere that we liked.

This next image was the same set up, however the model was sitting on the floor and the light had been positioned lower to shine on the model’s face.

Our group then went ahead to try lighting at another location. We found a set of stairs for the model to sit on and to try and illuminate the model without casting shadows to the face. This new location was in direct sunlight, so very well lit. The diagram below shows the set up we took for this.

This final set up was easier to gain results from, but I think this came with using the equipment more and more. Once you use the equipment frequently it becomes easier to set up and understand.

Workshop Two:

For this session there were 3 different tasks. We were given one light for the first task and the location that we chose to use was Coventry Cathedral. The aim of the shoot was to use one light and a reflector to fill any shadows on the models face. The idea was to use the columns behind the model as the background and the light in-between them to be black as to not distract from the model’s face. At first the light was too bright so we took it further away from the model so that it was over exposed. Once the lighting was set, we experimented with different compositional poses of the model. Below is a final product and lighting diagram.

We then went on to choose a different location within the Cathedral. This time we chose to sit our model down and use the one light (Bowens 500watt) and reflected the light up onto the model so that it didn’t cast hard shadows onto the face.

The second part of the task was to create a portrait using 2 lights, however one of the lights wouldn’t work so we had to use only one and a reflector. Our original idea was to light the background separate to the model but made do with what equipment we had.

Task 3: Speedlight Flash

The speedlight flashes are external flashguns which can be attached to a camera or used freely. We used these to create harsh contrasting light in our photographs. The first photo was where we used a more powerful flashgun behind the model to create dramatic lighting. This casted a harsh shadow to the face of the model. With the master transmitter covered we were able to set off the slave responder only to create the dramatic background effect.

The second photo, we used the flashgun then through some crates which we situated next to the model. We thought we could create contrasting shadows onto the models face.