| I Own the Light! No! I am not speaking of owning the
lighting equipment, which I do. I am referring to understanding light and being able to
control it in every situation. Consider this, There is no Shadow! There is no Color! There
is only Light, or the absence of light!!! Most of us know that bright sun creates pretty horrid photographs of people. An overcast sky creates a general soft light more suitable for portraits and people photography. But this means the light controls where and when you take pictures. I don’t know about you, but I am not satisfied with this arrangement.
In bright sun, anytime in the day you can take great fill flash images. Start by having your subject face away from the Sun. Do not let the Sun light the face, use the Sun to create your hairlight or backlight. Use the incident dome on your meter to read the light falling on the back of your subjects head, point the dome directly at the sun or where the strongest light is coming from. On a bright sunny day , typically with 100 ISO film, your meter will probably read about 1/125 sec at F:1 1. Now set your camera on manual at 1/125th Sec and open the lens by one stop to F:8. Set your on camera flash on automatic but use the F:8 setting on your flash. You will get perfect fill flash images as long as you do not let the sun fall on the subjects face, and you must set your camera on manual, this will not work on Program or Automatic.
You will own the Light. You will be the master of the light. The outdoor images in this article were created with a Hasselblad 2000 FCW camera and various lenses, using Sunpak 383 flash, or my Nissin handle mount flash, all Studio images were created with White Lightning Ultra flash units. Art Ketchum, author of “Profitable Model Photography’7 writes for numerous photo magazines, and gives Seminars and Workshops all over the United States. For more information on Art’s Book, Videos, Seminars and Workshops call or write; Art Ketchum Studios, 2215 S. Michigan Ave.,, Chicago, iL. 60616. or call: (372) 842-1406 for a Free Brochure. Or check out my web site: www.artketchum.com For more information on Art Ketchum the photographer please visit our Faculty Lounge |
Let’s start with daylight, where most mistakes in
photography are made. It is not hard to photograph a scene, basically because you do not
have to control the light, just shoot it when you think the light is right. However, when
you intend to photograph a person in daylight you must take control of the light. First
lets look at what film sees compared to what our eye sees. When we look at a person with
the sun shining on their backside, illuminating their hair and creating a natural
backlight. The eye has the unique ability to see about 11 F: Stops from Highlight to
Shadow, as compared to film only being able to see slightly more than 2 F: Stops. Yes! I
am aware that with Black & White film and Zone processing you are able to push my 2: F
Stop rule further, but this article is about Lab processing with Color Slide, Color
Negative and Black & White film.
My style of lighting through the years has been to always
try to create depth in my photography with the use of shadow and highlight control. To
create the illusion of depth, I find using a hairlight or backlight in my people
photography gives me this 3 dimensional quality or depth I am seeking. Want to create
outdoor portraits that literally jump off the paper. Now that you understand the 2 F: Stop
limit on film, it will be easy to create some of the best outdoor people photography if
you follow my plan for fill flash. The one tool that is mandatory for good fill flash is
an incident style light meter, I personally use the Polaris flashmeter, it is inexpensive
and very easy to use. The Polaris will meter Ambient light (Daylight or Incandescent) and
Electronic Flash with the incident dome or reflected light without the incident dome.
There are many other meters that will work as well but most are more complicated and also
more costly.
Most of the small Sunpak, Vivitar or camera manufacturers
dedicated flash units will allow you to set the flash one stop more open than the daylight
reading. One word of warning, you can not shoot at a faster shutter speed than your camera
will allow for flash photography. Many of the new 35mm cameras will allow you to shoot as
fast as 1/250th Sec. for flash but many of the older manual focus cameras only sync for
flash at 1/60th Sec. When shooting with a camera like the Hasselblad with a shutter built
into the lens, you have the option to use any shutter speed all the way up to 1/500th Sec.
Applying this same backlighting philosophy to your studio
lighting will create the same dramatic results. Intensify background lighting stronger
than the light falling on the subject and your images will appear to jump off the paper.
Add a colored gel to your background light for some striking new effects. Create some
simple backgrounds with fabric or muslin backgrounds, I use backgrounds from Backdrop
Outlet, by calling 1/800/466-1755 they will send you a Free Catalog, and you can see more
of my images, as I do the photography for their catalog. Try shooting with a Muslin,
Canvas, Glamour background or Fantasy Cloth for real creativity. By using one of the small
Morris Poplar brand (about $ 45 to $ 50) or similar background lights, you can open up new
dimensions in your photography. Pick your own colored background and colored gel
background light to compliment your subject, the combinations are endless.
