My photography lighting journey has been a long, long, LONG trip! Over the past 15 years, I’ve spent more time and money on lighting for studio photography than you can imagine. I’ve used everything from bare speedlights to crazy expensive strobes (I still shudder when I think about the cost). I’ve finally come up with the perfect formula for me.
Lighting for Studio Photography
Like most things, there are a bunch of different opinions on lighting for studio photography. There are a gazillion classes for using cheap speedlights, using expensive studio equipment, using one light only, using 50 lights, etc. Okay 50 lights might be an exaggeration but you get my point.
I have to start of by saying, I’m not knocking anyone else’s technique, lighting choices or equipment. One of the things I like so much about photography is the different styles that are out there! I get totally inspired by other people’s work and they way they achieve it.
That being said, here is what I use in the studio and why.
FOR THE MAIN AND FILL LIGHT, AND BACKGROUND LIGHT, I USE EINSTEIN 640S FROM PAUL C BUFF
Starting out with speedlights, I quickly became annoyed with how limited I felt with them. Because they are a small light source, filling large softboxes like the 50″ one I was using at the time, was almost impossible. In my wisdom, I decided to upgrade to the Canon 600 speedlights and rig all four of them up inside that sucker. It was ridiculous! Not only was it expensive, (at the time they were $600 each) but it was also so dumb. If it tipped over and they broke, I was going to be out a ton of money.
I did some research and finally discovered strobes. There are numerous differences between speedlights & strobes but here are the basics. Speedlights are much smaller and can either go directly on your camera or be placed on a light stand. They are also powered by AA batteries. Strobes are larger, and do not go on your camera. While some have battery packs, most are meant to be used in a studio, plugged into an outlet.
A friend of mind was moving to Europe for a year and he sold me my first strobe, an Alien Bee 1600. If you know anything about this brand, you know this is a powerful light!! It was great at lighting up a giant softbox but it was limiting for my small studio. Because it was so powerful, even on the lowest power setting I had to either shoot at a high aperture like f/10 or pull the light crazy far away from my subject. While it wasn’t ideal for my studio, outside it was great at overpowering the sun!
Finally I settled on the love of my life – next to my husband of course 🙂 – the Einstein 640 from Paul C Buff. I love this thing!! On the lowest setting I can shoot at 2.0 and if I crank it up to the highest setting, I’m up to f/22. That’s a huge difference!
Plus the quality of light is so beautiful!! Every studio shot that you see on my website uses the Einstein as the main light. I loved it so much that I eventually bought a second one that I use as my fill light. Any light that is hits my subject’s face comes from an Einstein.
FOR THE BACKGROUND LIGHT, I USE THE ALIEN BEE 400
UPDATE – I now use an EINSTEIN 640 FROM PAUL C BUFF for my background light as well. The versatility of the power settings I mentioned above, was the selling point for me! I’m including my original information though because it’s still extremely useful…especially if you’re just starting out or are on a budget!
Earlier, I mentioned my friend that sold me my first strobe. He warned me that lighting was addicting and I’d want to buy more and more lights. At the time I thought he was crazy but man oh man was he right!
I quickly decided that I wanted additional lights to separate my subject from the background. This meant more strobes but another Einstein was out of my budget at the time. It’s come down a lot in price but at the time, I think they were almost $800 a piece. Google became my best friend and I discovered that while I needed the flexibility of Einstein for my main lights, the Alien Bee 400 & 800 (also from Paul C Buff) are fantastic as the hair and background lights! I have to add, many people use them as their main light with no problem. For me and my style of shooting though, the Einstein was the way to go.
Typically I like to keep my backgrounds on the darker side. Since the Alien Bee is the least powerful of the AB line, I use it for the background light. I use the silver metal reflector that came with it to control the light spill. I also alternate between four different honeycomb grids, 10° – 40°.
These are great for controlling light. The grids force the light into a more narrow beam. The larger the holes in the grid, the more light passes through. In the photo below, I was using a 20°grid on my background light. You can see the circle of light is concentrated to the area behind his head.
For the photo below, on the background light, I used the reflector without a grid. This helped keep the light off of my subject but lit the background evenly from top to bottom.
FOR THE RIM/HAIR LIGHTS I USE ALIEN BEE 800S
I really like using hair/rim lights. It helps with separating your subject from the background and adds definition to the photo. This is especially helpful with athletes when you want to show off their muscles!
The great thing about the Alien Bee 800s is they have enough of a power range that you can use them for a kiss of light on the side of the face, like the photo below.
Or you can crank it up and get some awesome side light flare action going.
HOW DO I GET THE LIGHTS TO FIRE?
In addition these fabulous lights, you’ll need a few more things. I use the Cybersync trigger which goes on my camera and the Cybersync AC powered receiver that goes on the strobes. The receivers can either have AC power or batteries. In the studio, I prefer the AC receivers. This way I don’t have to mess with charging batteries!
You’ll also need a sync cord. The sync cord plugs into the both receiver and the strobe and allows the them to talk to each other. You could also plug the sync cord directly from the strobe into your camera and trigger it that way. You’d have to get a really long sync cord though and I for one would trip right over it!
WHAT ABOUT MODIFIERS?
Now this is a super lengthy subject to write about! While the strobes you use are important, I feel like modifiers are just as important if not more so. Depending on the look I’m going for, I use octoboxes, square or rectangular softboxes, beauty dishes and strip lights. I also use reflectors, snoot, grids and gels.
There’s a lot of information to cover here so I’m breaking this post in half. Stay tuned for part two of my lighting for studio photography series!
In the meantime, check out my other tutorials!
Want to learn more about lighting? I offer one-on-one classes! Send me a message or give me a call at 434-906-0418 .
Ali Johnson is a portrait photographer specializing in senior portraits Charlottesville Virginia, Fluvanna and Louisa County VA