Resources

Setting up a Photographic Studio

What do you need

Studio lighting, studio flash or continuous lighting

Background or backdrop

Background support

Camera Tripod

Studio Lighting Equipment

Studio Flash Lighting

Two of the most difficult questions to answer are ‘how many lights do I need?’ and ‘what power do I use?’ there are so many different set ups you could use and its often based on the users preference and the space you have available. You can use anything from just one studio flash head and a reflector to a three headed studio flash kit. In my opinion I would have to say that having three lights in your studio flash equipment armoury gives you greater flexibility but probably the best compromise is to have least a two headed studio flash set-up.

Knowing what power flash lighting to buy is often tricky, I would always say the more power the better but there are other things to take into account. For instance if you are taking full body portraits or small groups then a 150w, 160w or 180w studio flash kit would work very well as its light and flexible in tight spaces and of course easy to move about which is always an important feature to consider.

There are various configurations in flash lighting kits, umbrellas are probably the most popular. A white umbrella will give a softer result than a silver umbrella which reflects the maximum amount of light. A gold umbrella is popular in portrait photography and is used to give warmer colour to flesh tones.

Softboxes have become popular as they give a very soft light with no light spill and depending on their size and shape can give attractive highlights in the eyes.

It can be confusing having to decide what studio accessories you need and which ones don’t actually make that much difference. There are certain flash accessories you should consider; a snoot is a must for narrowing and precisely directing the light. It can be used for things such as highlighting hair.

A barn door and gel filters, which can be used to direct coloured light onto your subject or background, are handy to have around as it gives you more versatility in your studio set up. A wireless trigger gives you the ability to trigger the flash heads without wires attached to your camera so lets you concentrate on taking your photos rather than tripping over countless wires.

Continuous Lighting

Continuous lighting is popular because it allows you to see the quality of light falling on your subject before you take the shot. It is easier to set up than a flash kit but the problems with many continuous light systems is that you can’t easily make adjustments to power levels the way you can with studio flash.

Use Micansu balanced  daylight compact fluorescent bulbs 5400-5600k as they run cool. You can use these set-ups for static subjects and some kits for portraits and video work. Although there is plenty of light for the modern camcorder for still photography there isn’t as much flexibility with your exposures as with a flash. Using 2 single 105w compact fluorescent lights you would need to shoot with your camera set to 400 asa to give you maximum flexibility for your exposure.

Background Supports and backdrops

If your taking portraits then you will need some sort of background, these are generally called a backdrop and come in various colours and don’t forget to also include a background support to hang it on.

Generally most people start of with plain coloured backdrops usually either white muslin or black muslin. If using the white cotton muslin then different effects can be achieved by using the gels filters on the barn door to light the background with a colour and create different atmospheres for your photographs.

More advanced techniques can be achieved by using chroma key colours such as chroma key green or chroma key blue, these chroma key colours allow you to change the background when editing the shots to digitally to any background that you want. So again this gives you more flexibility with your shots.

It’s probably a good idea at this stage to invest in a good quality editing facility and learn how to use it properly so that you can make the most of your photographs. This is invaluable to any digital photograph enhancement and makes the extra equipment you’ve invested in work for you.