Beauty & the Brand: First photography lesson 25/01/16

In our first photography lesson we were taught about different ways to light for beauty photography and about what light meters are and how to use them. The equipment we looked at and used in this practical were:

A soft box - A soft box is used to create a softer looking light in photography, the soft effect is created by the light being diffused through a piece of material on the soft box so that the light isn't going straight onto the model. As the light hits the material it spreads it out more evenly giving it a less harsh finish.

http://improvephotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Fotolia_11427838_XS.jpg
A beauty dish - The beauty dish creates a harsher light than the soft box as the light isn't diffused through any kind of screen before reaching the model, it is similar to a large metal bowl with a hole for the light to fit through and the light bounces around the dish before onto the model.

http://www.paulcbuff.com/images/products/22hobd/22hobd_front_0111.jpg
Spill kill - This creates the harshest light out of the soft box and beauty dish.

https://cdn.fotosense.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/1/8/1885.jpg
Light stand - This is what you attach the light to and can be adjusted in height to suit the shoot.
Light - The most necessary part out of all listed above!
Light meter - Records the amount of light going into the camera.

Light meters

http://www.wexphotographic.com/webcontent/product_images/large/216/1006844.jpg

As said above, a light meter records the amount of light going into the camera when photographing something. To use the light meter you should always place it the same distance away from the camera as the model/object being photographed is but just next to them to get the most accurate reading to get the best aperture for the appropriate exposure for the photograph.

How to use a light meter:

Press the Power button to turn the light meter on
Hold down the ISO button and set it to 100
Hold down the Mode button and scroll until it is on the symbol that looks like a lightening bolt with a C to its right
Make sure the slider at the top with the large round white button on it is closed
Take a sync lead and put it in the light meter at the bottom on one end and inserted into the light with the other end
Position the light meter next to your model/object with the large white sliding button at the top facing the camera

Testing the aperture with the light meter next to our model
Press the button on the side of the light meter to begin reading the light
The number that appears at the bottom on the right hand side to find out what aperture it should be.

In the trial demo in class it read '2.8' and we wanted F5.6 or F8. To correct this adjust the nob on the light with the lightening bolt on to make the aperture higher (turn the nob the opposite way to make it lower etc.).

Shutterspeed: 1/160
Aperture: F8.0/F5.6
ISO: 100

Tips:

When photographing a model as photo after photo gets taken the model will quite often slowly move back away from the camera shot after shot, the further back the model gets the darker the images get as it messes up the exposure. A good way to prevent this from happening is marking the floor with an X in tape where you would like your model to stand, this way it is easy for both of you to keep track of where they are and where they are supposed to be in relation to the camera.

On the light head there is an eye symbol which is usually called either cell or slave. This detects other flashes around it and sets the flash of automatically (called slave because it becomes like a slave to the other flashes). This can be useful for when using multiple lights but annoying when working in the same studio as other people like we usually will be at uni as their flashes will set our lights off. This can also be a health and safety hazard as if you are unprepared for the flashing light and are standing very close to it/looking at it it could damage your eyesight. Make sure if you do not want this setting on to turn it off when not in use.

How to bounce light:
In our groups we used the light meters, beauty lighting and different reflectors to test out bouncing light. Our group used a beauty dish as it was the in between option of the soft box and the spill kill.
Bouncing light creates a very soft light as it is not going straight onto the model which is perfect for beauty shots, I will definitely use this technique for a beauty shoot in the future.

Reflectors we used:

Lastolite reflectors - These are available at the hatch and in different colours.

http://cdn.cvp.com/images/products/altimage/02%2004%20201413964330043831-DS-Reflector.jpg

Polyboards - Giant reflector boards made out of polystyrene, usually found in the studios.

http://www.diyphotography.net/files/images/6/diy-backdrop-insulation.jpg