8) Introduction to Location Lighting, Kathy Foote, 10/10/17

Today we had our first location lighting workshop, in which we learnt how to use location lights, hammerhead flashes and Photix/METs flashes. My notes from the session are scanned in below.

I really enjoyed setting up the different lighting for portraits, and to better explain this you can see the diagrams above in my notes, and below I'm going to attach the different photos we took in the session in sections of the different set ups we created.

1. Using natural light as the main light with a studio light as the fill light, making the portrait look at natural as possible. To achieve this look you generally need the fill light to be 2 stops lower than the main light. The three shots below show the development from no light, to a side fill light (which gave off a shadow), to finally a light pointed at the subject but with an umbrella to diffuse the light more. This was the desired lighting we wanted, because it showed no shadows while also looking natural and not overpowering the window light.

2. Creating a portrait where it looks as if it's night time outside and there's a light from a sunset coming in from another window lighting the individual. The three photos below show the transition from no light to using a studio light with a gel to create a more orange/yellow toned light. The second photo displays a gel that looks a bit off, but the third photo with a different gel is a bit more subtle giving the effect we want.

3. Using flash lights as studio lights for a low key and high key portrait. For this set up we put a 2 flashes on a light stand with an umbrella and placed them either side of a backdrop (you can see the diagram in my notes above). I was surprised at how great the quality was, as if it was with the usual studio lights!

I found this workshop so helpful as location lighting and flashes in general are something I have no knowledge on and haven't used before. After learning how to use this equipment I will definitely be booking it out for my own work whether it be for portraits, location shoots or just lighting shoots in my own home. I'm also really looking forward to the follow-up workshop on intermediate location lighting.

#workshop #obsessions