Getting Comfortable with Studio Lighting

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I would be lying if I didn’t say I totally hated using strobes (and shooting in a studio) back in college. Not only did I find studio lighting intimidating but I didn’t care for it. I didn’t like the look of it and it just simply didn’t compare to natural light. Obviously, I’m a changed woman these days but once upon a time, I wasn’t a fan. I remember often thinking, why should I create the light when I can just go outside and chase it?

Well, fast forward to today and I still find it intimidating sometimes (lol) but I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with it. In fact, I couldn’t imagine having to depend on the sun for all of our shoots. I’m getting stressed just thinking about it, haha!

Ultimately, I want to encourage you all to step outside your comfort zone (that includes me) and find ways to nurture your studio lighting skills.

Studio + Gear Rentals

Renting gear or a creative studio is one of the easiest ways to get acquainted with lighting equipment. Not only because it’s more affordable than buying it but it gives you the opportunity to play and experiment with a wide variety of lighting brands and tools. Thinking back, I’m shocked that we never rented any studios to practice our product photography skills.

Granted, we had some experience shooting fashion editorials in studio but product photography was an entirely new thing for us. We legitimately threw ourselves into the ring before we knew what we were doing. And yes, the clients would be on set too and it was SO nerve-racking.

For this very reason, I would highly recommend renting a studio so that you can practice and make all the mistakes in the world. With time and experience, you’ll slowly become more confident in your abilities to shoot indoors with studio lighting.

Tip: Renting gear for the first time? Most gear rental sites offer "kits" which include just about everything you might need depending on what kind of lighting you choose to rent. The last thing you want to do is rent one strobe and realize that it doesn't come with a light stand or an air remote that allows your strobe to fire off.  

Our favorite place to rent a studio is Peerspace.

For equipment rentals, we use Lensrentals.

Should You Use a Light Meter?

Most people recommend using a light meter to help you adjust your settings and expose for the light and while that's definitely good advice, I actually don't find it all that necessary for most situations. We purchased our fancy Sekonic light meter when we first got started and I don't think we've used it more than a handful of times.

While we don’t regret the purchase, I think it almost became sort of a fallback in case we couldn't figure it out but I personally felt that I learned better by making mistakes and seeing what happens to the light when I change certain settings instead of getting it right off the bat. Every photographer learns very differently and that's the beauty of it all, isn't it?

Continuous Lighting vs Strobes

The million dollar question. Which type of light should I use? There's definitely no right or wrong answer but I would recommend trying both to see which will be easier for you to get acquainted with first. Both offer a different look that only you'll be able to decide what will work best for your style and what you're trying to achieve.

Continuous lighting means that the light stays on continuously (who would have guessed lol), while strobes fire in sync with your camera.

Continuous lighting may seem like the obvious choice for photographers who are just starting to learn studio lighting because what you see is what you get. You can turn on the light and it will remain on for the rest of the shoot. With strobes, however, you get more power. Strobes may seem more complicated but once you get the hang of it, it can become an incredibly powerful tool.

Typically continuous lights are more popular for video productions than product photography, but we do know some photographers who use and love them. Our personal choice is strobes all the way baby.

Keep It Simple

This is probably the best advice I can offer for getting comfortable with lighting. It can be very overwhelming to have so many different kinds of lights, modifiers, and attachments in front of you and you don't even know where to start. That's where you have to take it one step at a time.

Keep it simple by only using one light at first. Whether that's continuous or strobe, set it up, take your shot and see what happens. Experiment with the placement of this one single light. Change the position of your light by moving it towards your subject, away from it, eye level to your subject, high up and away from your subject, and so forth. Take a shot every time you do this so you can see exactly what's happening.

Try different angles and notice what happens to the light. Is it getting soft or harsh? Test out what happens when you shoot with a bare bulb. Add a modifier such as a softbox or a reflector to see the results. I mean, the possibilities are endless.

Once you feel comfortable enough with the one light is when you can start to add another to see how that affects your overall image. Oh and if you're not already shooting tethered to your laptop, I strongly encourage it. Otherwise, it's going to be very difficult for you to notice the differences between each of your images as you're moving your light around.

It just takes time and practice. That's all. There's no real secret. Everyone learns and works differently and without any discomfort, there is no growth!

Is it the weekend yet?

Arabela