When I teach my photography classes at the local universities one of the first questions I ask my students is how many lights do you start with to create an image?
The students typically guess one, two, three or four lights. Then I explain to my class that I’m going to ask a second question that will answer the first one. If they get the question wrong, they will fail the class. I tell them that I’ll know if they get question wrong, because I’ll be able to see it in their eyes.
The question: How many suns do we have?
For those of you who may not know: We have one sun and it casts one shadow.
I feel too many photographers think shadows are bad. It seems their goal is to light an object until every bit of shadow is eliminated. In doing this they remove all character from the image.
There is nothing wrong with using more than one light in support of your main light. I consider the sun as the first light. If I don’t have the sun to work with, I’ll set up my first strobe. Next, I consider what quality of light I want for the image.
I have many options. If I’m looking for a soft light, I can bounce it off a wall or an umbrella. I can shoot though soft material or use a light box.
If I want harsh light, I can point the unfiltered light directly at the subject. I can also shape light with grids or shooting through a design of my own making.
Another important consideration are the ambient lights, if any, in the scene. The photographer should consider if he can use it to his advantage. Ask yourself: Should I slow down the shutter to include ambient light? Should I increase the shutter or power of my strobes to eliminate the light?
For my support lights I’ll make the same considerations as the primary light, but I might add a filter or color.
Additional spot grids often have interesting looks. If I don’t want to use an additional light I can use a reflector. I have reflectors that contain multiple surfaces for different effects. Sometimes I’m looking for the crispness of the silver reflector, the softness of the white reflector or the warmth of the gold reflector.
I ask this question often on exams and students still get it wrong, even though I cover the answer in class: If you bounce light off a green wall, what color will bounce back? Green, of course.
Lighting doesn’t have to be complex or hard. Start with one light. Decide on the quality of the light you are looking for in your scene. Use supporting lights to your taste, desire and vision.
Rosh
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