Photography and blog about studio lighting setups. » Studio Lighting Setups

Studio lighting setup #20, charcoal background.

Alexey Ivanov — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 00:00:37 +0000

Hey hey! First of all, I would like to wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New year 2010! I am very grateful to all who takes interest in our work and to all who has been supporting us all this time. Special thanks to iStockphoto and to the whole team, a part of which I was lucky to become this year. Cheers!

At this fairy night, I would like to share with you a new studio lighting setup with a wonderful effect giving to the image more charm. I shall not plunge into details of studio lighting setup, as it is very simple and consists only from two light sources: a softbox, placed in parallel to the floor over the model’s face, and a snoot, directed to the background. I would like to share with you the way I managed to create a purple glowing on this picture. While Julia was putting on make-up to the model, my eyes caught a screensaver on my Mac Book Pro, most likely you saw it many times. It is called Mac’s Flurry Screensaver, you can take a look at Youtube. I liked the colors very much and the way they were glowing and I thought why not mix the colors and not use a notebook’s monitor as the third light source? Why not? Then I settled exposure to 1 sec on the camera and aperture F3.5. The main thing was to provide complete darkness in the room you are shooting and lack of additional sources of light, which would impede. The next steps were easy. Julia helped me holding the notebook at the left side from me. As soon as I took the model’s photo, I directed the camera to the monitor and moved it like a scanner, from the left to the right side of the monitor in order to gather the colors of screensaver (we have about 0.5 sec for this action after the first flash). As there was completely dark in the room, we got a sharp image of the model, covered by glowing and colors from the screensaver of the notebook. Voila! Of course, there should be taken a couple of trial moves with the camera in order to understand the level and direction of the camera to reach the desired effect and not simply blur over the image by all this glowing. After the third try, I didn’t meet any problems. In this way, it is possible to add many interesting effects to your works! And again, I wish you happy holidays and New Year my friends!!! Woo-hooooo!

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #20, charcoal background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #20, charcoal background.

Make-up info:
Prep prime skin, MAC / Face & Body Foundation C4, MAC / HD Powder 00 Universal shade, MUFE / Compact Modellers 01 Ligth Pink, MUFE / Mineralize Skinfinish Soft And Gentle, MAC / Eye Shadow: Black 04, Cafe Latte 164, Coffee 28, MUFE / Pigment Gold Dusk, MAC / Eyeliner Pencil 2L, MUFE / Aqua Smoky Lash, MUFE / Lipstick Sweet kiss 51 Rose seduisant, Bourjois + Eye Shadow Purple 92, MUFE / Pro Longwear gloss coat, MAC

Studio lighting setup #19, charcoal background.

Alexey Ivanov — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:38 +0000

Hey hey! Last week I showed you studio lighting setup, where I used small depth of field F4 (Studio lighting setup #17, charcoal background.) and all light sources were at minimal power. Now, I would like to show you an example of the opposite case. As I have said before, I often use F10 when shooting in the studio. This time I’ll use F25 and all light sources will be at maximal power and regulated only by change in the distance between them and the model. Two 120° Wide-Angle Reflector lights are set on each side of the model in parallel with the background. Snoot is pointed on the silver top of the model, to make it shine. Beauty dish as key light is at the left of the model and another 120° Wide-Angle Reflector and big softbox are used as fill light. I liked the result of the experiment very much and I hope that you will try the variant of studio lighting setup and will be satisfied like I am! Cya next time!

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #19, charcoal background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #19, charcoal background.

Make-up info:
HD Primer Microperfecting Primer 00 Neutral, MUFE / Face & Body Foundation C2, MAC / HD Powder 00 Universal shade, MUFE / Compact Modellers 01 Ligth Pink, MUFE / Eye Shadow: Neon Pink 75, Purple 92, Diamond Burgundy 311, Black 04 MUFE / Eye pencil Khol & Contour Ultra Black, Bourjois / Aqua Smoky Lash, MUFE / Lipstick Pink Champagne 006 Rimmel / Fluidline, Blacktrack MAC / Cream Color Base Luna, MAC

Studio lighting setup #18, coffe background.

Alexey Ivanov — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Hey, hey! Recently I’ve been working with new color of background. This is background – Coffee from Colorama, the color is light and at the same time quite intense. At once I though that it would be great to create a big soft shadow on this color of background and for this I placed big softbox as a key light just in front of the model. As for now, in our studio, there are only standard stands, the process of shooting got a little bit difficult, but one can easily get used to this and then not to be incommoded by anything. This studio lighting setup is very easy to install and use. Key light will create a soft shadow on the background behind the model, and I decided to vary the shadow with the help of snoot directed to the background. 120° Wide-Angle Reflector light behind the model, placed above the head at the right, will be a good supplement as rim light and adding volume to forms of the body. I wish you successful light experiments and cya next time!

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #18, coffe background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #18, coffe background.

Studio lighting setup #17, charcoal background.

Alexey Ivanov — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:40 +0000

Hey hey! When I shoot in studio, I use diaphragm about F10. That gives me good sharpness and doesn’t hinder movements of the model. But I’ve always loved pictures with low depth of field. That is why, this time, I would like to share with you a studio lighting setup, with which I worked with diaphragm F4 on CANON EF 70-200 mm f/2.8 L USM. All light sources are at minimal power and the light adjustment is made only by moving light sources nearer or farther from the model. This is not so comfortable and requires time, but the result is worthwhile! As a key light I settled a big softbox to the right of the model, snoot on the background and as usual I set one more light source, fill light, behind the camera. Have a nice weekend and cya very soon! Cheers!

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #17, charcoal background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #17, charcoal background.

Make-up info:
HD Primer Microperfecting Primer 00 Neutral, MUFE / Face & Body Foundation C2, MAC / HD Powder 00 Universal shade, MUFE / Compact Modellers 01 Ligth Pink, MUFE / Cream Color Base Luna, MAC / Eye Shadow: Flesh Pink 157, Coffee 28, MUFE / Pigment Melon A48,MAC / Eye Pencil 208 Sienna Brown 208, Sephora / Aqua Smoky Lash, MUFE / Lipstick Pink Champagne 006 Rimmel, Lipstick 633 Desert Bloom Maybelline / Fluidline, Blacktrack MAC / Pro Longwear gloss coat, MAC

Studio lighting setup #16, charcoal background.

Alexey Ivanov — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:16 +0000

Hey, hey! Today I would like to show you the example of another studio lightning setup consisting of 6 light sources. This setup is a little bit difficult to install, but I am sure, that you’ll be able to manage it. In my case, it took a little bit more time than I could suppose before. But I was satisfied with the result! This time the key light will be the big softbox placed to the left from the model, the strip softbox placed to the right behind the model will help us to silhouette face. The strip softbox in front of the model and the fill light will plane the shady side in order to make the lighting design less contrast and the softbox, which I placed on the floor under the strip softbox, having removed it from the stand, will create gradient effect on the background and make its upper part darker than lower one. In our case the effect will mix well with the model’s clothes. You can also try to enhance the effect during RAW processing, for example in the LightRoom with the help of Vignettes tool. I believe you will be satisfied with the result. Cya next time! Cheers!

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #16, charcoal background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #16, charcoal background.

Studio lighting setup #15, cappuccino background.

Alexey Ivanov — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:00:05 +0000

Hey, hey my friends! It is curiously enough to observe changes in lighting design depending on variation of only one light source. Recently I told about studio lighting setup consisting of 5 light sources where the key light is presented by big softbox to the left of the model. This time I used the same studio lighting setup but I increased power of the right strip softbox on one grade and instead of big softbox I used beauty dish as key light having placed it to the right of the model. It is quite noticeable that the lightning design has changed, it has become less contrast and more even, and that suits greatly to such kind of photography. This setup will be a bit more sensitive to changes in position of the model than the last one (Studio lightning setup #14, charcoal background), but this will not bring any special difficulties during shooting. I wish you all the success in your experiments! Light is everything! Cya!

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #15, cappuccino background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #15, cappuccino background.

Make-up info:
HD Primer Microperfecting Primer 00 Neutral, MUFE / Face & Body Foundation C4, MAC / HD Powder 00 Universal shade, MUFE / Compact Modellers 01 Ligth Pink, MUFE / Mineralize Skinfinish Soft And Gentle, MAC / Cream Color Base Luna, MAC / Eye Shadow: Metallic Taupe 127, Coffee 28, Black 04, MUFE / Aqua Smoky Lash, MUFE / Lipstick Burgundy 92 / 590, Maybelline / Eye pencil Khol & Contour Ultra Black, Bourjois / Fluidline, Blacktrack MAC / Pro Longwear gloss coat, MAC

Studio lighting setup #14, charcoal background.

Alexey Ivanov — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:54 +0000

Hey, hey! I’m glad to see you and hope that everything is ok with you! After a pause connected with our holidays, which I and Julia spent on Bali, and moving to a new studio and its arrangements, at last I am glad to inform you that now we are ready to work in our usual regime “HARD MODE – ON”. A special thanks to iStockphoto for their offer to join the best team in the world and become an inspector at iStockphoto.com, which I surely could not refuse! iStock we love you!

Before that, I was trying to show that even with small quantity of light sources it is possible to create very interesting studio lighting setups. Now I shall try to show by an example what can be done with more light sources, having more space for work and experiments. This studio lighting setup will make your work much easier as it gives tremendous, in my opinion, result without special efforts and difficulties while installation. For this, you will need 5 light sources and I hope that you will like the result and find application for this studio lighting setup in your works! Cya! (Equipment : Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM – Bowens Gemini 500).

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #14, charcoal background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #14, charcoal background.

Make-up info:
HD Primer Microperfecting Primer 00 Neutral, MUFE / Face & Body Foundation C4, MAC / HD Powder 00 Universal shade, MUFE / Compact Modellers 01 Ligth Pink, MUFE / Mineralize Skinfinish Soft And Gentle, MAC / Cream Color Base Luna, MAC / Eye Shadow: Metallic Taupe 127, Coffee 28, Black 04, MUFE / Aqua Smoky Lash, MUFE / Lipstick 633 Desert Bloom, Maybelline / Eye pencil Khol & Contour Ultra Black, Bourjois / Fluidline, Blacktrack MAC / Pro Longwear gloss coat, MAC

Studio lighting setup #13, white background.

Alexey Ivanov — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:44 +0000

Hey hey! I often encounter the matter of light source number. The many think that they have not enough light for creating something interesting and they try to buy more and more additional studio equipment as soon as possible, hoping to remedy everything. Therefore this time I want to show you studio lighting setup consisting of only two light sources. It is very easy to use and install, very popular in glossy magazines and the photography of advertisement area, which I also like working with very much. I hope you like it!

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #13, white background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #13, white background.

Make-up info:
HD Primer Microperfecting Primer 00 Neutral, MUFE / Camouflage Cream Palette 01 Very light complexions, MUFE / Face & Body Foundation C4, MAC / HD Powder 00 Universal shade, MUFE / Compact Modellers 01 Ligth Pink, MUFE / Mineralize Skinfinish Soft And Gentle, MAC / Mineralize Blush Hand-Finish, MAC / Eye Shadow: Flesh Pink 157, Black 04, MUFE / Pigments: Gold Mode A18, Gold Dusk A48, Deep Blue Green BA8, MAC / Aqua Smoky Lash, MUFE / Fluidline, Blacktrack, MAC / Lipstick Sweet kiss 43 Rose Pomponne, Bourjois

Studio lighting setup #12, charcoal background.

Alexey Ivanov — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:15 +0000

Hey hey! This time I would like to show you the studio lighting setup where only wide-angle reflectors are used. We will get rather harsh light and aggressive lighting design that does not go well with all types of photography, but however gives good result. Key light moved away from a model at about 3 meters will allow creating a shadow with sharp boundaries against the background. Very often photographer-beginners are tangled in this matter. The farther the light source from a model, the sharper shadow boundaries will be. If you want to soften them, just place the light source closer to the model. Other two reflectors will be situated to the left and right sides of a model for illumination of the background. At the beginning of this studio lighting setup set them on the minimal power and increase it to achieve necessary result. Good luck and cya next time!

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #12, charcoal background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #12, charcoal background.

Make-up info:
HD Primer Microperfecting Primer 00 Neutral, MUFE / Camouflage Cream Palette 01 Very light complexions, MUFE / Face & Body Foundation C4, MAC / HD Powder 00 Universal shade, MUFE / Compact Modellers 01 Ligth Pink, MUFE / Mineralize Skinfinish Soft And Gentle, MAC / Mineralize Blush Hand-Finish, MAC / Eye Shadow: Flesh Pink 157, MUFE / Pigments: Gold Mode A18, Gold Dusk A48, MAC / Aqua Smoky Lash, MUFE / Fluidline, Blacktrack, MAC / Lipstick Burgundy 92, Maybelline

Studio lighting setup #11, white background.

Alexey Ivanov — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:02 +0000

Last time (Studio lighting setup #10) I told you about the scheme comprising 4 light sources. If you remove fill light that is placed behind the camera from this scheme you can obtain more contrasting image and also get very beautiful lighting design, that is to my mind very suitable for black and white photography. Hope you like it!

Studio lighting setup:

Studio lighting setup #11, white background.

Lighting Setup Result:

Studio lighting setup #11, white background.

Make-up info:
HD Primer Microperfecting Primer 00 Neutral, MUFE / Camouflage Cream Palette 01 Very light complexions, MUFE / Studio Fix Fluid NC44, MAC / HD Powder 00 Universal shade, MUFE / Compact Modellers 01 Ligth Pink, MUFE / Mineralize Skinfinish Soft And Gentle, MAC / Mineralize Blush Grund Duo, MAC / Mate Eye Shadow: True blue 167, Turquoise Shimmer 83, Yellow gold 10, Black 04, MUFE / Eye pencil Khol & Contour Ultra Black, Bourjois / Pigment deep blue green, MAC / Aqua Smoky Lash, MUFE / Kryolan Stage Eyelashes B2 9379 / Pro Longwear gloss coat, MAC