By Jeremy Bayston
With the new Nikon D7100 digital camera, you would expect to be able to turn your hand to almost anything. This versatile and flexible camera is designed to excel in all areas of photography. So, once it is out of the box, many new owners will be rushing to take portraits and still-life images in studio conditions. obviously, if you can, you should always try to shoot in natural light - particularly if you are shooting portraits. If that isn't feasible, the pop up flash can usually provide the necessary fill-in, or you could use you flash gun, carefully placed and fired remotely. In most circumstances these tools will help you to get a decent result. But a time will come when you decide you need more control and at the point you will want a studio set up.
Space is the first concern. If you are going to take full length portraits you need to have a high ceiling and at least 5 meters between the camera and the subject. A normal sized garage just about fits the bill, though it will be a bit cramped for the photographer, as opening the door leaves you susceptible to external light sources.You will also need a good supply of electrical sockets. Ideally, if the space is going to be used exclusively for your photography, then you can paint the walls black and put blackout curtains over any windows and, if necessary, over the doors. Failing that, gray walls would be fine, and perhaps more acceptable to other users of the room. If all else fails, try to get some large sheets of blackout material that you can put up against the walls when you are shooting. Of course the background doesn't need to be black - you can get colored backdrops pretty easily, but bear in mind that colored backdrops can reflect their light onto your subject.
Space is the first concern. If you are going to take full length portraits you need to have a high ceiling and at least 5 meters between the camera and the subject. A normal sized garage just about fits the bill, though it will be a bit cramped for the photographer, as opening the door leaves you susceptible to external light sources.You will also need a good supply of electrical sockets. Ideally, if the space is going to be used exclusively for your photography, then you can paint the walls black and put blackout curtains over any windows and, if necessary, over the doors. Failing that, gray walls would be fine, and perhaps more acceptable to other users of the room. If all else fails, try to get some large sheets of blackout material that you can put up against the walls when you are shooting. Of course the background doesn't need to be black - you can get colored backdrops pretty easily, but bear in mind that colored backdrops can reflect their light onto your subject.
The reason photographers work so hard to exclude natural/variable light is so that they can control lighting conditions themselves. When buying lights you will first need to choose betweencontinuous or strobe (flash) lighting. Continuous lighting comes in two kinds - tungsten or fluorescent - and the choice is largely a matter of personal taste. Tungsten lights are sometimes referred to as "hot lights" because they emit heat (this can be a problem if your subject is going to be sitting underneath them for a long time). They also tend to glow with a warmer light and so give a 'reddish' result which can be great for skin tones and natural looking images.
Fluorescent lights have a more blueish tinge and give the sort of light most associated with pack shots or realistic still lifes. They tend not to emit so much heat as the tungstens. Of course, any light can be corrected with white balance, but ideally you want to work with the lighting rather than trying to compensate against it in all the time. Setting white balance is another thing to think about and sooner or later you will forget to do it and find yourself trying to photoshop it in.
The one great advantage of continuous lighting is that you can actually see how the subject will appear in the picture in real-time. This means that you get the lighting right and can then confidently address other variables like content and composition. With the strobe, you are sometimes not sure if the flash fired or not. In many ways continuous lighting is a lot easier, and I would recommend that you start with this. However, when you need to photograph something or someone and give the impression of movement, or freeze them in action, you will have to use strobe lighting.
Strobe lights allow the photographer a much greater degree of flexibility. The intensity of the flash can be adjusted to suit requirement, and that means that the shutter speed can be controlled far more effectively. If the subject is moving, then your shutter speed needs to be as fast as possible. The only real downside (apart from not being able to see the lighting effect in real time), is that the lights take some time to recharge.
If you are using two lights, I would suggest you use a soft box as the main light and the other light for the background. As the name suggests, the light from the soft box is less harsh and more even. It would be a wise investment to get some barn doors for the second light to help target the light from it more effectively. Set up your trigger on the front light and ensure that you have a trigger on both lights so that they both fire at the same time. Most decent lighting systems have built in slaves these days. Keep the soft box at least 2 meters away from the subject so that you keep the detail, and about 1 meter from the background so that the light spreads evenly.
I would be shooting at ISO 200, 125/ f8. It is a great starting point as you will get good graduation from lower ISO and F8 is about the optimum aperture for most lenses.
Fluorescent lights have a more blueish tinge and give the sort of light most associated with pack shots or realistic still lifes. They tend not to emit so much heat as the tungstens. Of course, any light can be corrected with white balance, but ideally you want to work with the lighting rather than trying to compensate against it in all the time. Setting white balance is another thing to think about and sooner or later you will forget to do it and find yourself trying to photoshop it in.
The one great advantage of continuous lighting is that you can actually see how the subject will appear in the picture in real-time. This means that you get the lighting right and can then confidently address other variables like content and composition. With the strobe, you are sometimes not sure if the flash fired or not. In many ways continuous lighting is a lot easier, and I would recommend that you start with this. However, when you need to photograph something or someone and give the impression of movement, or freeze them in action, you will have to use strobe lighting.
Strobe lights allow the photographer a much greater degree of flexibility. The intensity of the flash can be adjusted to suit requirement, and that means that the shutter speed can be controlled far more effectively. If the subject is moving, then your shutter speed needs to be as fast as possible. The only real downside (apart from not being able to see the lighting effect in real time), is that the lights take some time to recharge.
If you are using two lights, I would suggest you use a soft box as the main light and the other light for the background. As the name suggests, the light from the soft box is less harsh and more even. It would be a wise investment to get some barn doors for the second light to help target the light from it more effectively. Set up your trigger on the front light and ensure that you have a trigger on both lights so that they both fire at the same time. Most decent lighting systems have built in slaves these days. Keep the soft box at least 2 meters away from the subject so that you keep the detail, and about 1 meter from the background so that the light spreads evenly.
I would be shooting at ISO 200, 125/ f8. It is a great starting point as you will get good graduation from lower ISO and F8 is about the optimum aperture for most lenses.
The one great advantage of continuous lighting is that you can actually see how the subject will appear in the picture in real-time. This means that you get the lighting right and can then confidently address other variables like content and composition. With the strobe, you are sometimes not sure if the flash fired or not. In many ways continuous lighting is a lot easier, and I would recommend that you start with this. However, when you need to photograph something or someone and give the impression of movement, or freeze them in action, you will have to use strobe lighting.
Strobe lights allow the photographer a much greater degree of flexibility. The intensity of the flash can be adjusted to suit requirement, and that means that the shutter speed can be controlled far more effectively. If the subject is moving, then your shutter speed needs to be as fast as possible. The only real downside (apart from not being able to see the lighting effect in real time), is that the lights take some time to recharge.
If you are using two lights, I would suggest you use a soft box as the main light and the other light for the background. As the name suggests, the light from the soft box is less harsh and more even. It would be a wise investment to get some barn doors for the second light to help target the light from it more effectively. Set up your trigger on the front light and ensure that you have a trigger on both lights so that they both fire at the same time. Most decent lighting systems have built in slaves these days. Keep the soft box at least 2 meters away from the subject so that you keep the detail, and about 1 meter from the background so that the light spreads evenly.
I would be shooting at ISO 200, 125/ f8. It is a great starting point as you will get good graduation from lower ISO and F8 is about the optimum aperture for most lenses. If you put the light at 45 degrees angle to the subject you will get good shadow detail on the face but always be careful where the shadow falls and make sure it doesn't go across the nose as this is very unflattering. If this is happening bring the light back towards you (and the camera) and it will go away. Always go for the main types of shot first, full length then half length and head and shoulders, you can start to vary your shots once you get into the shoot. Having your subject standing square to the camera is often not very flattering, just a slight angle tends to work better. When you get more aquainted and confident with your set up then you can start to add more lights, adding a hair light/ backlight/ and using a 3 to 1 lighting ratio will be the next step for you.
About the Author:
Strobe lights allow the photographer a much greater degree of flexibility. The intensity of the flash can be adjusted to suit requirement, and that means that the shutter speed can be controlled far more effectively. If the subject is moving, then your shutter speed needs to be as fast as possible. The only real downside (apart from not being able to see the lighting effect in real time), is that the lights take some time to recharge.
If you are using two lights, I would suggest you use a soft box as the main light and the other light for the background. As the name suggests, the light from the soft box is less harsh and more even. It would be a wise investment to get some barn doors for the second light to help target the light from it more effectively. Set up your trigger on the front light and ensure that you have a trigger on both lights so that they both fire at the same time. Most decent lighting systems have built in slaves these days. Keep the soft box at least 2 meters away from the subject so that you keep the detail, and about 1 meter from the background so that the light spreads evenly.
I would be shooting at ISO 200, 125/ f8. It is a great starting point as you will get good graduation from lower ISO and F8 is about the optimum aperture for most lenses. If you put the light at 45 degrees angle to the subject you will get good shadow detail on the face but always be careful where the shadow falls and make sure it doesn't go across the nose as this is very unflattering. If this is happening bring the light back towards you (and the camera) and it will go away. Always go for the main types of shot first, full length then half length and head and shoulders, you can start to vary your shots once you get into the shoot. Having your subject standing square to the camera is often not very flattering, just a slight angle tends to work better. When you get more aquainted and confident with your set up then you can start to add more lights, adding a hair light/ backlight/ and using a 3 to 1 lighting ratio will be the next step for you.
About the Author:
Jeremy Bayston has worked in the photographic industry for over twenty years. He has a particular interest in digital cameras and photography. Find out more about the new Nikon D7100 and its launch date from his website. Regularly updated with news and advice, it can help you get better pictures from your D7100.