Lighting Digital Field Guide

307 Pages·2010·12.77 MB·English

by  Brian McLernon

spine=.5778”
Photography/Techniques/Lighting $19.99 US/$23.99 CAN Ful Free Gray/Color Checker Card Inside! Brian McLernon
Color!
McLernon
See the light
and harness its power
Photography is al about light. This guide is al about understanding, apreciating, and using Lighting
the power of light to give your photos a new dimension. First, you’ll learn to be fully aware of the
light and to see its possibilities. Then you’ll learn how to manage and manipulate it with camera
settings as well as auxiliary light sources. Finally, you’ll see how to apply what you’ve learned in
common photo-taking situations. Look to the light.
• Develop a keener awareness of light and maximize its power
in every situation
• Learn to control lighting with your camera and when to use
speedlights
• Discover the effects you can create by manipulating light
• See how an understanding of light can improve your photos of
events, people, pets, products, landscapes, and more
Brian McLernon is a freelance photographer who also conducts workshops to share his knowledge of and passion
for photography. He has addressed numerous artistic, communications, and business organizations. Brian has
written three previous Digital Field Guides, including Canon Speedlite System Digital Field Guide.
Inside – your free gray and color checker card
to help you achieve accurate white balance and color
Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks
Lighting
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Lighting
Digital Field Guide
Brian McLernon
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Lighting Digital Field Guide
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-0-470-87822-4
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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About the Author
Brian McLernon is a commercial freelance photographer, educator, and writer based
in Portland, Oregon. Originally from New Jersey and educated in Arizona, Philadelphia,
and New York City, he shoots primarily for editorial, commercial, corporate, and life-
style clients. He is the author of three previous Digital Field Guides, the Canon EOS
5D Mark II Digital Field Guide, the Canon Speedlite System Digital Field Guide, and the
Canon PowerShot G11 Digital Field Guide.
To share his passion for photography, Brian conducts workshops in photography and
lighting for Portland Community College’s adult education series. He is often honored
to be a guest speaker for several artistic associations, communication groups, and
business organizations and enjoys speaking to student groups as well. When he’s not
photographing in the studio or on location, Brian spends time with his wife and daugh-
ter, family, and friends, camping, travelling, white-water rafting, cross-country and
downhill skiing, and, of course, photographing nature and all kinds of motorsports.
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Credits
Acquisitions Editor Project Coordinator
Courtney Allen Patrick Redmond
Project Editor Graphics and Production Specialists
Kristin Vorce Samantha K. Cherolis
Andrea Hornberger
Technical Editor
Ben Holland Quality Control Technician
Lauren Mandelbaum
Senior Copy Editor
Kim Heusel Proofreading and Indexing
Sharon Shock
Editorial Director Penny L. Stuart
Robyn Siesky
Editorial Manager
Rosemarie Graham
Business Manager
Amy Knies
Senior Marketing Manager
Sandy Smith
Vice President and Executive Group
Publisher
Richard Swadley
Vice President and Executive Publisher
Barry Pruett
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For Dean Collins, who started me out on the light path.
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Acknowledgments
Although only one name appears on the cover of this book, a project like this brings an
entire team of people together in seemingly unrelated ways who all contributed to its
creation. My hearty thanks go out to all those friends, clients, and associates who
posed for many of the images in sections of this book and to those who contributed
conversation, access, equipment, and ideas that helped make this book even better.
First, to my wife Gayle and daughter Brenna, who allowed me to disappear into my
studio cave to shoot and write and make my deadlines, all the while providing those
smiles, support, and laughter that make my life a joy.
To Bob and Shirley Hunsicker of Pharos Studios, my early mentors in studio photogra-
phy and business, whose guidance and friendship contribute immeasurably to my
photographic career.
To photographer Rick Becker of Becker Studios in New York City, who long ago
opened his Pandora’s box of lighting tips, techniques, and special effects and shared
with me the secrets of studio lighting.
To Michael Durham of the Oregon Zoo for providing access to the zoo and kind encour-
agement while I was writing this book. An incredible photographer himself, Michael
strives to photograph that which can’t be seen by the naked eye.
To David Honl, Rachael Hoffman, Phil Bradon, Craig Strong, Kari Friedman, and
Michael Paul Wyman for providing me with equipment and technical details about
some of the photos and lighting equipment described in this book. You guys truly
rock!
To Aaron McNally for assisting in several of the lighting setups and photo shoots, and
to Ted Miller, Adrienne Luba and Kathryn Elsesser, Rhonda McNally, and Keegan
Mullaney among others who graciously posed for several portraits in this book to
describe various lighting angles and styles. I couldn’t have done it without you.
To photographers Galen Rowell, Dewitt Jones, George Lepp, and John Shaw, who
conducted workshops that keyed me in to the technical considerations of natural light
and shared concepts and approaches to nature photography that I still call on today.
To photographers David Hobby, Joe McNally, Syl Arena, Chase Jarvis, and John
Harrington, who share their photographic expertise through blogs and Web sites in
their selfl ess desire to see all photographers succeed. I am indebted to them for shar-
ing their experiences that enhance all I attempt to accomplish in photography.
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To Courtney Allen, my acquisitions editor, for this edition and fi rst contact at Wiley, for
taking me under her wing and providing friendship and encouragement and bringing
me into the Wiley fold — may you rock to the metal always.
To Kristin Vorce, my project editor, for her attention to every detail of this book, includ-
ing her advice on image selection, captions, and sentence structure. Her contributions
never failed to make this book better. Also many thanks to Ben Holland, my technical
editor, for keeping me on track and helping me explain myself better.
Finally, to Dean Collins, the master of lighting and Photoshop guru who showed me
that photography is all about the light, not the gear. His knowledge of how to manipu-
late light and his entertaining teaching style have made a lasting impression on me.
Though Dean is no longer with us, I am forever in his debt.
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Contents
Introduction xv
CHAPTER 1
Understanding Light 1
What Is Light? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Ambient light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Hard light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Soft light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Diffusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Diffraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Lens fl are . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Luminance and effi ciency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Specularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Direction of Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Front lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Side lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Overhead lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Backlighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Color of Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Color temperature (Kelvin scale) . . . . . . . . 15
White balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Daylight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Tungsten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Fluorescent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Neon and special light sources . . . . . . . . . 23
Setting a custom white balance . . . . . . . . 24
CHAPTER 2
Camera Controls of Light 27
ISO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
ISO and light sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Digital noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
High ISO noise reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Shutter Speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Fast shutter speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Medium shutter speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Slow shutter speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
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