Using Off-Camera Lighting With One Light-Second Update
by William Lulow
Note: I have mentioned before that learning some of these techniques will not only help with photographing anyone, but will also teach you to recognize special light when you see it. Also, using just one light is the logical way to begin any lighting setup. I publish these articles from time to time because I don’t want them to get lost in the archives. You may also use the archives to search for other, similar articles.
There is no question that placing a light on your camera or using the built-in one is the most fundamental way to add light to any scene. The problem is that it produces a kind of harsh light that only lights the subject and nothing else. So, it is really impractical for doing any kind of good portraiture. Learning to use off-camera lighting techniques will require some investment on your part, because you will simply need more equipment than just a camera and a flash. You’re going to need at least one light stand, a way to mount your light and the ability to control its position. You can achieve some very interesting results if you’re just starting out, by buying an inexpensive light reflector and bulb. Not only is it a great way to learn what off-camera lighting can do, but it will be easily translatable when you begin using flash as well. This kind of light is very cheap and you can probably buy everything you need at your local hardware store. No need to go to a photography outlet.
I might interject here that most professional photographers wind up buying more lighting equipment than they need. One reason is that you always want to have extras in case something goes down and you always want to have enough lights to cover any kind of assignment that might come your way. So, make no mistake, studio photography can become expensive.
With this being said, off-camera lighting will immediately improve your portraits, but you will have to learn where to place them and how to use them. (You can refer to my archives for lessons in placing the lights and what some of the classical lightings are called, but I have included three setups here that you can use right away). Once you have obtained a light stand or two, you can begin trying to set up your hot lights and get more interesting results, but for now, just concentrate on using ONE LIGHT and taking it off the camera. When you use the flash on the camera, as I mentioned or the camera’s built-in flash, you are fairly limited with the kinds of lighting effects you can achieve. Take the flash off the camera, and you open up a world of different images you can make.
The more sophisticated lights are electronic flash units and I have been concentrating on these MONOLIGHTS because this is the first time I have bought new lights in something like 35 years! So, after getting some practice with your one hot light, you can then begin to branch out into using more than that and, you can begin to use a flash system. These lighting units are much more expensive and entail a greater learning curve to get to the point where you can control them easily.
Monolights are self-contained units that are battery powered and have no wires. This makes positioning them much easier. These are the lights to begin using when you have mastered the lighting concepts I refer to here. The results you can achieve with a flash setup will be similar to those you can get by using a continuous or “hot’ light source. As I mentioned, you have to experiment with the various lighting setups I have written about and explained in previous articles.
So again, here are a few of the basic lighting setups to use when you can get your one light off the camera. Again, you can refer to the archives on this site to read about more setups:
- The Hollywood Light
- The Rembrandt Light
- The Side Light
Hollywood Light
Here’s the lighting diagram:
Rembrandt Light
Here’s the diagram for the Rembrandt Light:
Side Light
Here’s the diagram for the Side Light:
So, these are three of the classical studio lightings that will help you not only understand what light can do, but how to use it effectively as well. They can be set up with just about any light you want to use. You can use your camera’s LCD screen to see what the various lightings will look like.
Here is one I used on an actual assignment, just a main light, no fill-in or background lights:
Here, the light was provided by my flash head aimed into a reflecting umbrella, but that was the only light used. It is a kind of REMBRANDT LIGHT, but the shadows are very transparent and they also serve to highlight the subject’s cheekbones.
Again, as I mentioned, knowing how these lightings are set up in the studio situation will also help you recognize them when you see them in your travels. Keep your eyes open!
