Photographic Lighting

193 Pages·2013·13.53 MB·English

by  Robert Harrington

1 S
9 P
2 E
GUIDPEA GEC EIAL OF
Photographic ONLXPAFER
Y N
£ D
9.9ED
9
Lighting
ROBERT HARRINGTON
THE EXPANDED GUIDE > TECHNIQUES
PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHIICC LLIIGGHHTTIINNGG CCHH 11 000011--002277..iinndddd 22 1166//1111//22001122 1144::2233
Photographic
Lighting
THE EXPANDED GUIDE
Robert Harrington
PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHIICC LLIIGGHHTTIINNGG CCHH 11 000011--002277..iinndddd 33 1144//1111//22001122 1122::1144
First published 2013 by
Ammonite Press
an imprint of AE Publications Ltd
166 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1XU, United Kingdom
Text © AE Publications Ltd, 2013
Illustrative photography © Robert Harrrington, 2013 (except
where indicated)
Copyright © in the work AE Publications Ltd, 2013
All rights reserved
The right of Robert Harrrington to be identified as the author of
this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988, sections 77 and 78.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the
prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.
This book is sold subject to the condition that all designs are
copyright and are not for commercial reproduction without the
permission of the designer and copyright owner.
The publishers and author can accept no legal responsibility for
any consequences arising from the application of information,
advice or instructions given in this publication.
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Series Editor: Richard Wiles
Design: Richard Dewing Associates
Typeset in Frutiger (Page 2)
Color reproduction by GMC Reprographics Camera: Nikon D3, 50mm lens
ISO 200, 1/160 sec. at f/9.0
Flash: Nikon SB910 at ½ power,
Large Rogue Flashbender
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The basics 6
Chapter 2 On-camera fl ash 28
Chapter 3 Off-camera fl ash 50
Chapter 4 Using off-camera fl ash 70
Chapter 5 The home studio 98
Chapter 6 Putting it into practice 126
Chapter 7 One speedlight, 13 looks 148
Chapter 8 Postprocessing 166
Glossary 186
Useful web sites 189
Index 190
PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHIICC LLIIGGHHTTIINNGG CCHH 11 000011--002277..iinndddd 55 1144//1111//22001122 1122::1144
PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHIICC LLIIGGHHTTIINNGG CCHH 11 000011--002277..iinndddd 66 1144//1111//22001122 1122::1144
CHAPTER 1 THE BASICS
PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHIICC LLIIGGHHTTIINNGG CCHH 11 000011--002277..iinndddd 77 1144//1111//22001122 1122::1144
The basics of fl ash
One of the most overused yet misunderstood pieces of photographic
equipment is the fl ash. Here’s a guide to the fundamentals.
Flash (noun): a brief, sudden burst of light
The biggest advantage of the fl ash that’s either Note
built into your camera or an external unit such Small point-and-shoot cameras are
as a Nikon SB910 or a Canon 600 X-RT is the incredibly adept at getting great direct
ability to add light to your images, but the fl ash shots as they are specifi cally designed
biggest disadvantage is the complex nature of for this type of photography.
fl ash that puts many off to using it to its full
potential. Understanding the nomenclature, the
buttons, and dials on the fl ash itself, and the
menus inside, is akin to trying to learn a foreign
language in only a week: it’s impossible.
What in the world is FEC? What does TTL
mean and how do we use it effectively? What
is high-speed synchronization? How are we as
photographers, most of us non-engineering-
types, going to understand the complexities of inside is just as confusing as the fl ash itself.
these systems and put them to effective use in When you purchase your fl ash, you usually
the fi eld? Picking up a manual full of technical follow something called the “Guide Number.”
jargon is a daunting task, considering what is But what is a guide number? Is it related to
ICON IDENTIFIER
Some of the symbols used with fl ash: you’ll need to recognize these and know exactly what they refer to:
Auto fl ash bracketing (the same Flash on or fl ash ready
symbol is also used for autoexposure
bracketing) Red-eye reduction mode (uses
REAR prefl ash to minimize red-eye).
+- Flash compensation control
SLOW Rear curtain synchronization
Flash off (overrides the automatic fl ash) Slow curtain synchronization
8 Photographic Lighting
PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHIICC LLIIGGHHTTIINNGG CCHH 11 000011--002277..iinndddd 88 1144//1111//22001122 1122::1144
subject distance responding to fl ash output, great image. Along with computer software,
shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, or is it just even the worst image we’ve ever taken can be
a number that gives us a total fl ash power turned into art, worthy of a gallery or the wall
rating? That’s the problem. As modern-day of your home. But we really need the lessons
photographers used to picking up a camera of the past to understand the current trends
and having it do all the work for us, some of in fl ash photography, so we can fully begin to
the foundations that are used to build a good understand the fl ash on or off our cameras.
technical understanding of photography have Let’s jump right in here and look at the basics
gone to the wayside. How are we to understand of fl ash. Let's try to understand the concepts
what a “Guide Number” is if we’ve never had and numbers that cloud our thoughts, and see
to deal with the concept? how we can get great images without spending
The automation of photography is one of an excessive amount of time in software: you
the greatest gifts in photography. Now, anyone may fi nd that you're trying to fi x images you
can pick up any kind of camera and capture a could have captured properly in the fi rst place.
WIDE-ANGLE LENS
Nikon D200, 12–24mm lens, A wide-angle lens was used here capture foreground and background
ISO 100, 13 sec. at f/13 simultaneously. The image foreground was brightened by using on camera
Nikon SB800 with Nikon SC29 fl ash attached to my camera by a fl ash cord. I set my exposure and used the
fl ash cord attached TTL selection on my fl ash to get it near the ground and light the snowy rocks
separately from the rest of the exposure.
The Expanded Guide 9
PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHIICC LLIIGGHHTTIINNGG CCHH 11 000011--002277..iinndddd 99 1144//1111//22001122 1122::1144
Guide numbers is, of course, if you are working with the fl ash
First, let’s look at “guide numbers.” In the old at full power. If you halve the power, then the
days, in those photos where you see a press distance, just like stopping the aperture down,
photographer holding an ancient Grafl ex camera halves to about 14ft (4.25m). These calculations
with a bulb fl ash on the side, the photographer are all based on using your fl ash with a bare
had to fi gure out subject-to-camera distance head. The numbers will be affected by a great
in order to set a shutter speed and aperture to many variables, including putting a diffuser over
capture an image his editor would accept for the the fl ash head, using an umbrella, or a softbox.
next edition of the paper. So think about what is This does get easier. On the back of some
going through the photographer’s head. In the fl ashes, there should be a Guide Number or GN
amount of time it took to read this passage, the setting. This takes the guesswork out of guide
photographer fi gured it all out, set his camera numbers, if you want to use them. On the back
and took a shot, replaced his fl ash bulb and fi lm, of a Nikon SB910, for instance, the GN setting
and got ready for another shot: Whew! gives you all the information you need. Set to
As modern-day photographers, we need not an ISO of 200, it’s base ISO setting, and the GN
concern ourselves with fi guring all of that out— setting gives you the perfect fl ash output and
or do we? Understanding how guide numbers subject distance. If I set my camera to Program
work will give us a greater understanding of Automatic, letting the camera choose everything,
how our fl ashes work and in what situations. with a 50mm lens I get an ISO of 200, shutter
To fi nd the right guide number for your fl ash speed of 1/60 sec., and an aperture of f/5. At
situation, you need only to look at simple math: these settings the fl ash will automatically tell
me that my optimal camera-to-subject distance
Guide Number = Distance x Aperture
Working in Program Automatic, where the
Initial guide number calculations are camera and fl ash combination chooses
based on an ISO of 100. As in all things in everything for me, Guide Numbers will select
the optimal fl ash output as long as I maintain
photography, if you change the aperture,
my distance of 6.6ft (2m).
distance, or ISO up or down the guide number
will change reciprocally. But you need to fi nd
this initial starting point to fi gure that out. So if
your subject distance is, say, 10ft (3m) and your
aperture is f/5.6, then the guide number on
your fl ash should be 56ft (17m) with your fl ash
on full power, using all the power accessible to
you. If you stop your aperture down, say, to f/8,
then your distance halves to 28ft (8.5m). This
10 Photographic Lighting
PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHIICC LLIIGGHHTTIINNGG CCHH 11 000011--002277..iinndddd 1100 1144//1111//22001122 1122::1144