If you follow me on social media, you’ve probably noticed I’ve been sharing more photos of flowers photographed in my studio than I usually do. It’s part of my process for deciding on what photos I’ll be including in my Petals show at Artists and Makers Studios in Rockvillle, MD next month (don’t forget – the opening reception is on February 2!). Once I’ve taken a set of photos in my studio, I’ll choose my favorites and do some quick edits to them up for sharing on my blog and social media. As I see the response to the photos, and have a chance to sit with them, I decide which ones I want to edit for print. And then from the ones I’ve edited for printing, I’ll choose the photos for the show.
A couple people have emailed me asking how I choose how I want to light my studio photos – and I’ve directed them to an article I wrote a couple years ago. Based on their responses to me – I thought I’d share it with all of you in case you’ve wondered how I light photos in my studio.
One of the main reasons I photograph in the studio is that I can control the light on my subject. When I’m photographing at a garden or in a park – I have to work with the light I find – and sometimes it’s just not very conducive for creating the photos I want to create.
In the studio, things are totally different. By using multiple lights, I can control which areas of the flowers are in light and which are in the shadows. I can also control how deep the shadows are.
Rather than spend more time trying to explain it – I thought I’d just show you some examples of how different combinations of light make a difference in my photos.
I usually have one light as my main light for the overall brightness of the scene, and then a second light down a stop or two to create some interesting shadows and sense of depth in my photos.
This first set of photos were taken under two lights in my studio – one to the right of the floral arrangement and one to the left. For all four photos, my camera settings were ISO 100, f 11, 1/15 sec. The only change I made to the photos in Lightroom were a bit of cropping and converting them from RAW files to JPGs.
In this first photo, both lights are at full power.
In the second photo, the light to the right is at half power, while the light on the left is still at full power. You can start to see more shadows in this photo compared to the first one.
In the third photo, the light on the right is at minimal power, while the light on the left is still at full power. The difference in the photos becomes more dramatic as the difference in the light levels increases.
And in the fourth photo, the light on the right is off, while the light on the left is still at full power. This gives a very directional feel to the light in the photo, similar to light coming through a window into a darkened room.
As another example, I photographed a pair of papaya calla lilies to show how changing the light levels on different sides can create very different looks. All of these photos were taken at ISO 100, f 16, 1/3 sec. Again the only edits made in the Lightroom were cropping the photos and converting from RAW to JPG.
Both lights at full power
Light to the right at full power, light to the left at half power.
Light to the right at full power, light to the left at low power.
Light to the right at full power, light to the left turned off.
Light to the left at full power, light to the right at half power.
Light to the left at full power, light to the right at low power.
Light to the left at full power, light to the right turned off.
As you can see, choosing different levels of light on your subject can create very different looks in your final photos.
On March 17, you’re invited to our home (and studio) in Bethesda to learn first-hand how to work with studio lighting to create the light you want in your photos. Bill and I will be teaching our Photographing Flowers in the Studio where you’ll get hands-on practice using both strobes and continuous lights to photograph flowers. You can learn more about the workshop, including registration info on my website at https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/photographing-flowers-studio-workshop-2018/
I’d love to have you join me for the workshop. Feel free to email me if you have any questions about the workshop.