Studio Shoot - Low Key Lighting

Venue
Burton College Studio

Equipment
Sony Alpha 200
Bowen Esprit 500 Studio Lights
Pulsar Flash Trigger and receiver
Black background
Soft box
Chair

Model
Sam (fellow student)

Lighting Design
See separate blog

Comments
The main objective I wanted from this shoot was that I wanted to experiment with the use of lighting to help express shadows on a model. I really like the look that Low Key portraits give so with the help of one of my fellow students I was able to try a variety of lighting to set ups to experiment their placement to help so what I was looking for. Although there was a lot of pleasing results from the shoot I was only able to duplicate a few of the final results that I wanted to do.

Using the studio lights is still hit and miss but I do feel I am gaining a better understanding of the effect light has on the overall result of a picture. I especially learnt how the lighting can assist in setting the mood and that low key lighting can really display the moody look of a model.

Using the black background and having model in black really made the placement of the lights crucial - not only to highlight the model but also to separate the model from the background. Too strong a light from the front made the models face too harsh but not enough light meant that the model became just a face, the clothing and background blurred into one. That is where the use of the rear light aimed at the models hair helped separate the head and gave the hair a nice natural sheen.

The other important factors that affected the overall look was the aperture. Too open (low) f-stop number allowed too much light onto the sensor therefore blowing the highlights out. The best results came from using a middle f-stop number of around f8. I also had to remember to use the correct white balance (flash in this instance)and not to set my shutter speed past the flash maximum 1/160.

I made sure that I used the eyes as my focus point setting my camera on a spot point focus pattern and used the centre metering option on the camera.

I learnt a lot about the power lighting has on the overall feel of the finished picture and how as a photographer has to ensure that he has full control of his camera (ie. remembering to change the white balance etc) to make the pictures that he really wants to make.

To see the shots from this session please click here.