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by MEB Journal staff
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Today’s cameras create great images, even in low-light conditions. SO I DON’T REALLY NEED TO WORRY ABOUT ADDING LIGHTS ANYMORE, DO I? by Don Bachmeier, Lowel-Light While there have been enormous improvements in recent years, even the best cameras still do not see like your eye. More correctly, your eyes connected to your brain. Even the best cameras have less contg
trast range than your eyes. They can’t handle extremes of light and dark in the same picture. They also see only a portion of the color range you can, and they can’t correct for multiple color temperatures. They also require a minimum amount of light to make a clean image.
beyond simply making an acceptable exposure possible. They help create a sense of 3-D depth in a 2-D image. Modern cameras require a more subtle more portable fixtures. Using smaller lights means you can also use lighter weight stands and other support equipment. This has become more important touch in lighting and shot design. Bad lighting looks even worse in HD. We once needed to transport large, heavy fixtures and grip equipment to simply make a decent exposure. Now, with better cameras and easier to carry lights, you can spend more time craftig ing the image to communicate with your audience. You will still need the same number of lights but you can now use smaller, with the tighter restrictions on baggage weight while traveling. Sometimes you don’t have time to carefully light a subject because you can’t risk losing the shot or capturing the moment. In most of these situations, even a small amount of lighting can make an enormous difference in the quality of your images. Good lighting can set you and your project apart from your competition. The improvements in modern cameras do not eliminate the need for lighting. The functions of lighting go
March - April 6 2008
You can use lighting to control the contrast of a scene so the camera sees it more like your eyes.
Lighting control will help you give a scene a different mood or direct a viewer’s gaze. You can
also use lighting to give your subject a more slim and vigorous appearance. These photos show a
common office situation where most of the light comes from directly overhead. Meant to light esktg
tops and worktables, it is very unflattering lighting. You can see in the first image that the subject has deep shadows under her eyebrows and chin. When viewing the scene with your eyes,
you would have been able to see into the shadow areas better than the camera. With time, you can train yourself to “see” in the same way that your camera does so you will be better able to predict
what lighting the image will need. A fast and simple improvement for this situation would be to add a light at a lower angle. That will begin to fill in the shadows and put a little sparkle or life in her eyes. This is best done with a soft light like the Rifa-lite or a light which has an umbrella added to
make its output softer. A common starting point for placing this light would be where it causes the nose shadow to fall somewhere along the line between the base of the nose and the edge of the
mouth. This also puts a bit of shadow line along one cheek, to better show the shape of the face.
Don’t make the common mistake of using a light that is too powerful. Overlighting the subject will require an adjustment on the camera lens to deal with the brightness. And closing the lens to correct this will result in a dark or nearly black background. A 300 to 800 watt soft light is a good starting point in an office setting. In rooms in which you wish to maintain lower light levels, a 200 to 300 watt light works well and can have a natural “un-lit” look. Simple adjustments in the light’s distance to the subject will vary the intensity. Lights designed for on-the-road use will usually allow bulbs of different also will help separate them from the background, adding to the 3-D effect mentioned earlier. You could also add another small light to highlight an object in the ackground. You could even direct a light through a colored gel to wash the background with color. Modern cameras do make better images than ever before, but lighting is too important a tool to ignore for any wattage and voltage to be used in the same fixture, so you can adjust the intensity by using a less powerful bulb. Wire scrims and neutral density gels are also ways to adjust a light’s output in predictable amounts. These take up very little room in a light kit. If you have more time and desire
portrait style lighting, consider turning off, the overhead lights completely. image maker. perienced cinematographers and photographers know that if they don’t understand and effectively
use the craft of lighting, their competitors will. Then start with the same lights we just described and build on them. You’ll have more control by using only your own lights. To fill in some of the shadows, you can add a second soft light of lower intensity, placed on the opposite side of the camera from your first light. A simple reflector can also be used to subtly fill-in shadows.
A small light placed behind your subjects can add a bit of shine to their hair and a highlight on their shoulders. |
MEB institute 
