Creating backlighting in your studio shots
This short article, which is a brief
extract from the Photolearn
Still Life tutorial, is about creating backlighting in the studio.
I've used a still life subject to
illustrate the article, partly because the subject keeps still and doesn't answer
back and partly because, although still life subjects are more difficult to
light well than people, they are easier to demonstrate on because the lighting
can be more precise - but even if you have no interest in still life photography
please read on - the principles are exactly the same with people photography!
Most professional studio shots are
either entirely or very largely backlit.
The light comes from behind and adds that something extra to the edges of the
subject to 'lift' it from the background.
Most product shots are done this way and so are many portraits. Hair, especially,
is often backlit.
Backlighting is very worthwhile, but is slightly more difficult. In particular
it is more difficult to adjust the effect and to get the exposure right, but
if you are using either digital or Polaroids this isn't a problem.
Backlighting also has equipment needs
of its own.
For a start, you need to make sure that if a light is pointing more or less
towards the camera then the light doesn't hit the lens, which will cause flare
and ruin the shot.
An easy solution is often a honeycomb, which fits over the front of the light
and which shields stray light, preventing it from hitting the lens, unless it
is pointed directly at it. There are a number of different honeycomb options
available, depending on the field of light spread you need and on the angle
at which the light is pointed.
Another option is a barn door attachment, simple swivelling doors that fit on
to the reflector and stop the light from going where it's not wanted.
A cheaper, do it yourself option is a snoot - a piece of stiff black paper or
black foil, shaped into a cone shape with the larger end fixed to the reflector.
Important note: For fire safety reasons do not use a modelling light with a
paper snoot!
Modelling lamps can cause overheating when used with honeycombs, so it's a good
idea to use them only when setting up the shot, and to then switch them off.
All these accessories work, although in slightly different ways. There are though,
2 other equipment considerations.
If you are backlighting your subject you will usually get better results, with
less risk of flare, if you avoid using zoom lenses. The reason for this is that
zooms have a large number of elements, and the more elements in the lens the
greater the risk of flare caused by stray light.
The other bit of kit you really must have is a lens hood. The ones supplied
for zoom lenses are often next to useless because they have to work at the wide
end of the zoom without causing vignetting and so are simply too small to be
of much use at longer focal lengths. My best lens hood is a bellows type, which
can be adjusted to length and even tilted.
Backlighting is almost the standard approach with product shots because
it separates the subject from the background and adds drama, beauty and impact
- and these qualities sell products!
Probably most commercial photographers have a 3'x'3' or larger softbox suspended
from the ceiling or fitted to a boom arm, this is usually used slightly behind
the subject and angled forward to produce a degree of backlighting as well as
toplighting, and this is a good starting point for many subjects. Larger softboxes
may be needed too, because even a softbox placed as close as humanly possible
to the subject needs to be a minimum of three times the subject size if diffused
specular highlights are required.
Not all subjects are the same. Some are solid, some are transparent or translucent,
others, flowers for example, have delicate bits so the technique used has to
suit the subject.
The subject chosen for this article
is not the easiest - chrome, satin silver, 2 different greys, straight bits
and curved bits going off at different angles, shiny bits and matt bits - all
crying out for extremely diffused lighting.
This isn't the most exciting product, so I used the log in a diagonal composition
with the product going in the opposite direction to create some compositional
disharmony. The composition and camera position needs to be decided before a
start is made on the lighting. The setup pictures below show how it was done.
The overhead softbox needed to be
very close indeed.
By using an elevated camera position I was able to match the softbox and the
camera angles and leave a space of only 8" between the softbox and the top of
the subject. So far so good, but the overhead softbox, although dealing quite
well with the specular highlights, also flattened the textured part of the top
and more dramatic backlighting was wanted.
So I used a spotlight behind right to add some psazz.
The effect can be seen below, top right, although in the final shot I reduced
the power a bit.
This hard light picks out the texture quite well. If you don't have a spotlight
a honeycomb will do, with some black flags to control the spread of light, or
you can use a slide projector instead.
With all the light coming from above/behind
and behind/right, some fill was needed front front/left.
A reflector (left) and a fill card (front) were used for the fill instead of
lights. I wanted a low level of light on the left, with the left side facing
of the clock radio in shadow, and I wanted uneven lighting on the front to add
to the impact , which reflectors and fill cards can do very well.
The next job was to work out the exposure needed for the illuminated time display,
in the shot below (middle right) I gave a 30 second exposure, but reduced this
to 20 seconds for the final shot.
The final job was to light the background, I used a lighting gel with a honeycomb,
but as the light was hidden behind the shooting bench almost any light (even
a table lamp) could have been used instead. Either red or 'Electrical goods
blue' would have been OK but I used a magenta gel because I like the colour.
So this shot could have been done using a single softbox (or any light bounced
off a flat panel), a slide projector and table lamp.
2 final points - Strong backlighting can produce extremes of contrast and this
can cause problems for most digital cameras and for slide film. My normal tool
of choice would have been my Lightphase digital back, which copes well with
a very wide range of contrast, but I used my Fuji S2 instead, to be sure that
anyone reading this can work with similar lighting. And the electrical wire
was dropped down the back of the log, so avoiding the need to remove it on computer
- I'm bone idle!
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Creating backlighting in your studio shots
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