Studio Lighting Fundamentals and One-Light Setups

Karl Taylor shoots a model in a yellow dress on a staircase, backlit by sun, the sky darkened by ND and polarising filters, and lit by two battery flash heads in umbrellas for light between hard and soft. Stairs form leading lines and she steps so the dress flows.

Mark Wallace shows how to shoot portraits with speedlights inside a mock 12 by 12 foot room with a ceiling. Using a Canon T3i and Nikon D7000, a 580EX II and SB-900, he bounces flash vertically for soft spread, then moves it to a stand triggered by an SU-800.

Mark Wallace shows why white seamless paper is versatile: it falls into shadow for grey or near-black, while grids, flags and black foil shape light. Shooting Sam Kazuch at ISO 200, 1/250 and f/10, he cuts arcs into a black-foil gobo over a 10-degree grid for film noir contrast.

Tony Northrup photographs Chelsea with off-brand speedlight, stand and umbrella under 80 dollars, bare for hard shadows, then through shoot-through and bounce umbrellas held close for softness. He sets manual, 1/200, widest aperture and ISO 100 so ambient goes black, firing the flash as an optical slave from the pop-up.

Gavin Hoey picks grey as the one backdrop for a small studio, shooting Beth with a gridded StreakLight softbox at f/4: with Beth close to the light the inverse square law turns it black, a separate light makes it white, and red and blue gels turn it purple.

Jerry Ghionis isolates beauty in a cluttered location by shooting up from the floor so out-of-focus chandelier bulbs become bokeh behind Kristen, leaning in to correct perspective. He exposes for ambience at 1/160, f/2.8 and ISO 800, dials the Ice Light brighter, and makes her laugh for warm eyes.

Jerry Ghionis lights Amy against a purple wall with an Ice Light 2, using barn doors or its sleeve to light her face but not her body. A second Ice Light behind provides hair light at ISO 1600, 1/125 and f/2.8, then a narrow beam across her face adds drama.

Jerry Ghionis uses an Ice Light 2 to emulate window light on a sofa, posing a gold-dressed model with hips rolled, elbow resting, hands occupied and a gap under the wrist. Held vertically the light is sharper, angled it softens; he shoots at 1/125, f/2.8 and ISO 1000.

SLR Lounge's lesson on cast, the first of four Cs, covers light direction with a couple outdoors: overhead sun casts eye shadows while golden hour acts as a giant softbox, so harsh sun is tamed with a 5-in-1 scrim, a silver reflector as main light or white over silver.

Sean Tucker argues strobe portraiture need not be expensive or intimidating, showing budget kit he uses for a classical one-light look. On a Sony A7 III at ISO 100 and f/2.8, camera and flash in manual, he moves the light from split to Rembrandt to beauty patterns, exposing by eye.