Photography lighting. Don't buy cheap lights! TIPS

 There are 2 kinds of setups:
1. Hot lights - Consist of powerful bulbs. They get hot pretty quickly and are pain to work with. Would not recommend for small studios due to lots of heat they produce. God forbid you drop on of those on a model. Generally not very powerful(unless you are a video production company...). If you can work with those, go ahead and buy it. In the winter,maybe you can turn off your heat and use these instead....(this is where you are suppose to smile :) )

2. Strobes - flash type units that work the same as your on camera flash,but with MUCH more power. They don't produce heat and can output a lot of light. They power is measured in watt/second or ws. There's no 1 global standard though. Some companies measure their light differently,thus you can see a 60ws light advertised as such,when in fact it's about 30ws... This is especially true for cheap or no name units,that try to get you to buy them. All the high quality units are more closesly measured(still different...)

Questions.
What's good? Well, as with everything, the more money you spend the better quality you get. There are units for professional photographers on which you can spend $2000+ for 1 strobe. There are also companies that market to semi-pro photographers at very affordable cost. Look into Alien Bee,SP-System,Speedotron. I would personally go for Alien Bee units due to exceptional customer service and warrantee they provide+ they are made in US.

How many should I get?
I would really recommend starting with 1 strobe and upgrading as you go. Once you learn all the lighting techniques with 1 light,you can start upgrading to 2 and more lights-as you see fit.

I see different accessories, which one do I need?
Well, Softboxes in general,produce the softest light(shadowless). They take a bit of time to assemble. Umbrellas can be shoot through or reflected. They(in general) provide a bit harsher light,but easy to carry,assemble and use. There are also grids that can narrow the light angles(say to just light up your head,but not the rest of the body). They are measured in degrees and generally are sold as 10-40degrees.

Can I just shoot with no softbox or umbrella?
Yes! you sure can! Start as is and upgrade as you see fit...

Light stands?
Get the best you can afford. Lights are expensive and heavy. Don't rely on a $40 light stand. Get a heavy duty stand.

I see very cheap lights sold here,on ebay. Should I buy them?

There are many lights that are sold here,including kits with many lights. I prefer buying something once and not upgrading it a few months down the road. Check for their warrantee. A quality light can output 100,000s of flashes before needing a new flash bulb. Some cheap lights are only good for about 5-10K. See how much it would cost to get a new one. Sometimes I shoot about 1000 pictures a day,using a strobe. Having to replace my bulb every 5 days would not be an option. Not to mention that some cheaper option will NOT let you change the bulb yourself. You would need to send it to the factory( in China),in order to get it replaced...


Last,before we finish. Don't just buy something. Research first! Be an educated buyer. Don't just buy because it looks good or the ad says you should buy it :)

Later,
Dmitri



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10 useful outside photography tips for photographers
Posted 19-Aug-07 13:58:57 EDT Updated 20-Aug-07 23:16:01 EDT

1. Look for focal points

A friend of mine once told me that they don’t bother taking their camera to the beach because all beach shots look the same. i thought that that was a pretty sad thing to say because when I go to the beach I see it as a place brimming with photographic opportunities if you have the ability to look beyond the cliche shots. For example while many people take shots looking out to sea I find it interesting to go to the water’s edge and then turn completely around and see what’s in your frame from that angle. One common problem with landscape beach photographs is that while they might capture a beautiful scene they actually have no point of interest and can as a result be rather empty and boring. When taking a shot look for a point of interest or focal point that will give those looking at your photo a place for their eye to rest. Perhaps it’s a pattern in the sand, a set of footprints, the crashing of waves over a rock, a life saver’s tower etc. Also look for the little things that tell the story of going to the beach like shoes at the waters edge, sand castles, sunglasses, sunscreen lotion etc. Sometimes these can make wonderful little feature shots to break up your vacation album.

2. Timing is important

The start and end of days can present the best opportunities for shooting at the beach. For starters there will be less people there at that time of day but also you’ll find that with the sun shining on an angle that you often get more interesting effects of shadows and colors - particularly in the evening when the light becomes quite warm and golden.

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3. Watch the Horizon

One of the most common problems in beach photography where there are wide open spaces with a long and often unbroken horizon is sloping horizons. Work hard at keeping your horizon square to the framing of your shot (more on this here). Also consider placing your horizon off centre as centered horizons can leave a photo looking chopped in half (more on this in our post on the Rule of Thirds).

4. Head to the Beach When Others Avoid it

Another timing issue is that the beach can really come to life on those days that everyone avoids it because of inclement weather. Stormy seas, threatening and dramatic clouds and wind slowing lifesaver flags and trees over call all make for atmospheric shots.

5. Exposure Bracketing

One of the challenges of shooting in the middle of summer on a beach is that it can be incredibly bright and your camera could want to under expose your shots if you’re shooting in Auto mode. If your camera has a manual mode it can be well worth playing with it at the beach and experimenting with different levels of exposure. I find that I get the best results when I look at what the camera wants to expose the shot at and then over expose it by a stop or two. Of course this depends greatly from situation to situation - brightly lit landscapes are generally very tricky - especially if you have shady areas as well as bright ones. Sometimes it’s a matter of working out which area you want to be well exposed and focussing on that area as to get everything right is often impossible.

6. Spot Metering

If your camera has spot metering you can overcome some of the above exposure problems. Spot metering is a feature that some cameras have whereby you tell the camera which part of the image you want to be well exposed and it will get that bit right. This is particularly useful in bright light when you want to get a shady area exposed well. It will optimize the shady area (and the other areas will be over exposed - but at least your main subject will be ok). This can be effective especially when photographing people as it allows you to face them away from the sun and to meter on their shadowy face and therefore avoid squinting (a common problem with photographing people at the beach).

7. Fill Flash

If you’re photographing people at the beach as a portrait and it’s bright you’ll find that they will almost always have shadows on their face (often cast by hats, glasses, noses etc). Switch on your flash and force it to fire when shooting in these situations and you’ll find the shadows eliminated and your actual subject is well exposed. This is particularly important when shooting into the sun when without a flash you could end up with your subject being at some stage of becoming a silhouette). If your camera gives you some level of control over how strong a flash to fire you might want to experiment with this also as firing a full strength can leave your subjects looking washed out and artificial. If your subjects do look overexposed and you cant decrease the flash strength try moving back a little from your subject and using your zoom to get a tighter framing as this will decrease the impact of the flash. As usual - experimenting is the key.

8. UV Filters

UV filters are useful for DSLR owners a couple of reasons in beach photography. Firstly they act as a protection for your lens (see below) but also they do filter out ultraviolet light in a certain range. This can cut back on atmospheric haze (often a blueish haze/tinge). The visual impact that they have is not great but they are the first thing I buy when I get a new lens for my DSLR.

9. Polarizing Filters

One of the most useful DSLR lens accessories that you can add to a digital camera is a polarizing filter. Without getting too technical, a polarizer filters out some light that is polarized. This means that it reduces reflections and boosts contrasts. The most noticeable places that this has impact is with blue skies (potentially it can make them incredibly rich and almost dark blue) and in water/ocean in which it can give a variety of effects. The way many people explain the results of a polarizer is the difference that polarizing sunglasses can make when you put them on (in fact I know quite a few photographers who shoot through their sunglasses if they don’t have a polarizer with them. Get a polarizing filter and experiment with it and you’ll quite literally be amazed by the results.

10. Black and White

One technique that I’ve been using a lot lately in beach photography (and other genres also) is to do a little post photo production and see what impact stripping a photo of color has upon it. There’s something about a black and white shot at the beach that completely changes the mood and feel of a shot. It’s also a great way to bring to life beach shots taken on dull or overcast days which can often leave a beach scene looking a little colorless.



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