Table Of ContentTABLE OF CONTENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR — page 6
INTRODUCTION — page 7
Why this book?
What will you learn?
Who will find this book useful?
FOREWORD — page 8
LIGHTING BASICS — page 13
Equipment Essentials
General Process
GLOSSARY — page 14
ONE-LIGHT SET-UPS — page 18
TWO-LIGHT SET-UPS — page 35
THREE-LIGHT SET-UPS — page 82
FOUR-LIGHT AND MORE SET-UPS — page 120
CAMERA-MOUNTED FLASH — page 146
NATURAL LIGHT — page 155
CONTINUOUS (HOT) LIGHTS — page 168
© 2012 Quavondo Photography, LLC.
All rights reserved.
www.quavondo.com
Content direction and editing by Lindsay Michelet
Illustrations by Corey Michaud
Title ID: 3711712
ISBN-13: 978-1466463844
ISBN-10: 1466463848
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or
otherwise, without prior written consent from the author.
The information contained in this book is based on the author’s experience
and opinions. The author will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the
information in this book
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
QUAVONDO was born in Vietnam and fled to the United States with his
family at the age of five. His childhood was spent working with his mother and
learning English from Bugs Bunny cartoons.
A graduate of the University of Washington, Quavondo became a self-taught
graphic design artist. After a long freelance career with ad agencies including
world-renowned Weiden+Kennedy, Quavondo switched gears to follow his
true passion, and now operates an award-winning commercial photography
business.
Quavondo resides in Los Angeles, California with his cat Athena. Honored 18
times at the International Photography Awards (including top-three
placement), Quavondo has been a featured artist on [Framed] and appeared
on Make Me a Supermodel and Double Exposure with celebrity photography
team Markus Klinko & Indrani. Quavondo is a top contributor with
iStockphoto/Getty Images where his photos have twice been selected as Top
Ten Images of the Year.
Follow Quavondo at blog.quavondo.com.
INTRODUCTION
Why this book?
I have no formal photography education. Nearly everything I know is the
result of trial and error. Five years ago, I bought my first strobes. The day they
arrived was exhilarating, until I realized I had no idea what to do next. I
desperately sought out books to demonstrate the dramatic lighting techniques I
desired to replicate, but never found my golden goose.
Out of options, I sequestered myself in a spare-bedroom studio and shot for 30
straight days. Bright lights, dim lights, one light, all lights—whatever the day
inspired. During this intense period of shooting I learned invaluable lessons,
including a precious handful of rules that every photographer can use to feel
free and comfortable with artificial lighting.
I want this book to be your golden goose. At its core, this is an easy-to-use
technical handbook with lighting set-ups and simple tips you can implement
right now to improve your lighting. Each chapter focuses on a type of lighting
(e.g. one-strobe, two-strobe, camera flash, hot lights). At its heart, this book
and its images are meant to inspire you, with a candid look into the
background and thought behind each creative concept, and the amusing
realities of bringing an idea to life.
What will you learn?
In this book are 50 images spanning the beauty, fashion and lifestyle genres.
Included are:
Concept development
Challenges and solutions
Three-dimensional diagrams of lighting set-ups that you can replicate
Camera settings and equipment used for each shot
Alternate lighting options
Tips and tricks
Who will find this book useful?
There is a wide variety of imagery in this book, shot both indoors and out, so
all photographers can benefit from the demonstrated techniques. Anyone
looking to make the move from amateur to professional will find this an
invaluable resource. Professionals looking to kick-start the creative juices will
find inspiration and perhaps new lighting techniques to improve and simplify
their process. Novice photographers may wish to familiarize themselves with
the glossary terms first, but rest assured, this book minimizes jargon and
maximizes utility.
Don't wait another day. Start reading, and soon, you'll feel comfortable
enough to tackle any photoshoot with confidence.
My best to you,
QUAVONDO
FOREWORD BY ZEMOTION
JINGNA ZHANG was born in the suburbs of Beijing, and moved to Singapore
at the age of eight. At the age of fourteen, nine months after picking up an air
rifle, Jingna broke a national record, and joined the national air rifle team.
Notable achievements include a bronze medal in the 10m Air Rifle event at
the 2006 Commonwealth Games, awarding her the title of 2006 Sports Girl of
the Year by the Singapore National Olympic Council.
At sixteen, Jingna enrolled in a fashion design program, and at eighteen,
picked up a camera. She eventually left both the air rifle team and fashion
design to pursue photography full-time. Her clientele includes Mercedes Benz,
Canon, Pond’s, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising and Wacom. She has also
produced fashion editorials for Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Flare.
Jingna’s decorated career includes 2011 Photographer of the Year for Elle
Awards Singapore, top-three placement at the International Photography
Awards, and 2008 Overseas Fashion Photography of the Year at the British
Professional Photography Awards. Among others, she credits Peter
Lindbergh, John William Waterhouse, Kuang Hong and Yoshitaka Amano as
her biggest influences.
Follow Jingna at blog.zhangjingna.com.
