Flat light, most flattering for the model?

Okay this seems to be a popular belief, that flat light is most flattering to the model.

First of all what is flat light? Flat light is when everything in the photo is lit evenly, basically there is no contrast. If you shoot a coke bottle, the bottle look a part of the background, if you shoot a model, he or she look a part of the background. Flat light is most common on cloudy days, or when you shoot in shade. Trees and clouds act as a giant soft box or scirm. Here is a example of flat light for ambient lighting.

In the studio, flat light is achieved by 2 ways. Either your background lights and your main and fill lights are all at the same power. Or you main and fill lights are background lights to, and your background and subject are close together. We all see this is our yearbook photos, Rembrandt lighting style and we are up against the background, so we just kind of blend in with it. Yeah, I am sure we all remember those photographs. Here is a good example of flat light iu the studio

This is a copyrighted photo I found on Google, this is an EXAMPLE only!

So enought about what flat light is, now let's go into why this makes sense, but at the same time does not. Models with rough skin, you have to light them right. You can not have harsh shadows or it'll make their skin pop, in a bad way. The begin to look like the dark side of the moon. So it makes sense you want to evenly light them up. I understand that, trust me. However, I like contrast in my photos, so let's go over another lighting style that'll do just as good. 

Wrap around. Wrap around light is light that wraps around the model, and falls off on the back area, and the background. The only problem with wrap around light is you have to have a big source of light for it. Usually a softbox or octabox that is at least 36 inches across, meaning it is about twice as big as most models. Wrap around light is flat lighting on the model, but still gives you some pop in your photos. The way to light them is as followed.

Full body, waist up and 3/4th body shots. Use a softbox that is 3x5 or bigger or a 36 inch or bigger octabox. Now keep in mind these are big light sources, a 300 watt or bigger light will be required to fill the source. Anyways go about half power on an Alienbees B800, and get that softbox as close to the model as you can without it being in the frame, meter it and expose properly. Cameras and lenses will make a difference in your metering. Once you get it metered properly, start shooting and have fun!

For headshots, a beauty dish, a large softbox or a ring light will do the same. Follow the same directions. Place the model where you want him or her, Meter up. Make sure everything is exposed right, and shoot away! Here is an example or wrap around lighting. 

Yes, this is photo shopped to hell and back. Again example :)

So yes, flat lighting does make sense to be more flattering to the model. It is a bigger light source and it does not create shadows. If you want to shoot flat light shoot in shade, or shoot on a cloudy day. Studio make everything the same power. If you want to try wrap around here are some links to softboxes and to some lights that'll give you a good wrap around light. I have also provided links for location photography to.

Paul C. Buff Alienbees B800
http://www.alienbees.com/b800.html

Paul C. Buff Alienbees ABR800 ringlight
http://www.alienbees.com/abr800.html

Innovations battery packs
http://www.innovatronix.com/prod_gallery.asp

Paul C. Buff Vagabond 2 and Vagabond Mini
http://www.alienbees.com/VIIsystem.html

http://www.alienbees.com/vmini.html

Paul C. Buff Alienbees 60 inch moon unit

http://www.alienbees.com/mu56.html

Typical umbrella
http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-40-Umbrella-Reflective-Removable/dp/B002ZY4T8S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1307048839&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-33-Silver-silver-umbrella/dp/B001TSMJDS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1307048867&sr=8-4

Phtek softlighter

http://www.amazon.com/Lastolite-LL-LU3227-40-Inch-Umbrella/dp/B00012CHIK/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1307048965&sr=1-7

Paul C. Buff Alienbees PLM
http://www.alienbees.com/plm.html

These light modifiers will help you get good soft wrap around light!

Hope to hear more questions. If you have any Email me at wolfiemuellerphotography@gmail.com

I was told to place the lights about 3 ft high and point them up to the model. Is this true?

First of all, to me for bottom fill yes it is! But 2 lights as a main light? NO!

I will tell you why, and Kevin Camp from Tulsa, Oklahoma and James Cooper from Oklahoma City, Oklahoam taught me this one. It gives a very unflattering light to the model. If u know me in photography I am almost 100 percent self taught. And this was a mistake I made on the field one day. Kevin has dubbed it "Halloween" lighting and the reason is the shadows it casts.

In the previous post I showed some ways to use a reflector, the guy also went over three lighting schemes in the studio.

Rembrandt lighting. This is the most common lighting out there I have seen. Ever typical portrait studio uses this lighting scheme. Its about 45 degrees from the subject and the stand is about 6 ft high from the subject. This causes a triangle looking high light on the subjects cheek.

Butterfly lighting: This is another common lighting style. You place the light right above the subject directly centered to them, and down about 45 degrees to the subject. This casts a butterfly shadow under the persons nose. great one light set up.

These 2 cast shadows under the persons eyes. Not above.

The third lighting style the guy went over was edge lighting, we have all seen this. It is the lighting that causes harsh shadows and gives the photos a really dramatic look. Usually used in guy head shots and art nudes. The light is placed 90 degrees to the subject casting side shadows on the subject. You can use one or 2 lights and cause different shadows, but it is still side shadows.

This lighting style causes above the eye shadows, very unflattering to anyone. By placing the lighting on the bottom, the eyes do not get lit as well as from above. Placing the lights on the bottom as fills for butterfly are a great way to do fill light.

Here is a photo I took, and did this lighting style, as you can see the shadows are very distracting, and look like a jack-o-lantern look.

Are these shadows flattering?

No. So if you ever use a light from the bottom, you better have a top light to. :)

Hope to hear more questions!

Cheers,
Wolfie

Do you use a reflector?

This is another commonly asked question. Yes I do, on every shoot, depeding on the shoot is depending on what I use it for. Let's go over 2 ways to use a reflector.

First way. A main light. Okay the most common way I have seen shooters shoot is point the sun to their back and shoot the model properly exposed, overexposing the sky. This is good if you use pure ambient lighting, but I see a problem with it. There is no catch light in the eyes and the background is blown out, to me that is distracting. The way to get that catch light is use a white foam board or anything white. If you have a 5 in 1 reflector use the white side. The reason I say use the white side is you want to fill in, not overexpose. The silver side, or using a silver side will overexpose and cause the model or subject to squint. that makes any photo look bad, period. Using the white side will fill them in a little better and give a nice catch light in the subjects eyes. It is not hard to do at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jJKF9ihLwQ

Here is a good link. It goes over all the sides of the reflector.

Second way: as a fill light. If you use off camera flash, and only have one light it makes a great fill light! You can do it multiple ways, bottom fill side fill etc. You can use either side of the reflector because now you will lose several stops of light. The reflector has to be directly across the light. But it will add a great fill light!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH84-pA7p-c

These are just 2 very basic ways to use a reflector you can do a lot with them. Again, this is just basic lighting. Anyone got any questions? Email me!

Starting out in photography.

We all have been there. Whether you are Rolando Gomez or David Mecey or even Joe McNally, or just some local photographer in the middle-of-no-where, Oklahoma, we were all a starter at one point in out lives. Even myself 2 years pro, 10 years screwing around, I had to learn somewhere.

My most frequent question in photography is "I want to get started, what do I need to do?"

That is a multi part question, so here it goes!

First part: Like modeling, a lot of people think you need a degree to be a photographer, this is not true. Photography as a business is nothing about the art, and everything to do about business. If you are to or were to get a degree, I would say go the business route. The reason I say this is because a photography degree is basically worthless, what you learn there in school you can learn from YouTube videos. Workshops are another great way to learn about lighting and posing and the basics of your camera. Zack Arias has a wonderful one light workshop DVD I own. I would highly suggest this DVD series to.

Second part: Starting gear, what should you get? Well this depends, my starting set up was a nikon 70 to 300mm f4 to 5.6 lens, a 18 to 55mm 4 to 5.6 lens and a SB800 and a D80. Ran me about a grand all in all. However, if you want to go cheaper you can. If you want to go Canon the Rebel t3i is a great beginning camera, and a 50mm 1.8 lens is a great starter lens, fast glass and sharp images for about 130 dollars

t3i
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-T3i-Digital-Imaging-Body/dp/B004M170YC/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1306958495&sr=1-2

Canon 50mm 1.8
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/12142-USA/Canon_2514A002_Normal_EF_50mm_f_1_8.html

If you decide to go Nikon I would reccomend the D90 and a 50mm 1.8

The D90 can be found at the following link

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/580241-REG/Nikon_25446_D90_SLR_Digital_Camera.html

The Nikon 50mm 1.8

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/247091-USA/Nikon_2137_Normal_AF_Nikkor_50mm.html

The great thing about the Nikon bodies above the D5000 is they come with AF built in.

This will get you started and have some great glass with a decent body. Remember, lighting and glass are what is important!

Third part: Actually getting started. This business does take a long time to build a name and get known. When I started I asked friends to model for me and did senior picture type photos, eventually I found 2 awesome models on Craigslist and got a www.modelmayhem.com account for free. These are great networking sites, but Facebook has been my best. If you want to do seniors, find some friends in a church or in a workplace that have children that are seniors, do their photos are a discounted rate, please them, and they will tell a lot of people. Post Facebook posts and what not. It is all marketing yourself. You will get there eventually. Personally I did a lot of time for shoots before I even got a penny. The old saying "spend money to earn money" is oh-so-true in the world of photography. However, this is also a pretty middle-of-the-road career money wise. You will make between 15 and 35 grand a year on average. But everyone can do it.

If you want to get into weddings, a nikon D90 and a 70 to 20mm 2.8 lens with a great flash is a good starter kit for weddings, from there see if a friend is getting married, work out pricing. Book a few weddings build a portfolio, get a print one made. Take it to the shows and saturate it with cards and get your name out there. Again word of mouth is great.

Fourth part. Never settle. The second you think you are where you need to be at is the second you quit.

Fifth part. Lighting. Start out with ambient, learn your camera in manual mode learn the reflector meter, learn how to use a reflector, properly. From there move up better and beyond.

Submit your questions into wolfiemuellerphotography@gmail.com and I will answer them!

Hope to hear from you guys!