Everything you need to know about Lighting and Reflectors in the Studio
Studio lighting intimidates a lot of people. There’s big light machines, flashes and it just all seems really complicated – when in reality it really isn’t complicated at all! We’re gonna talk about my basic, go-to light setup today, that I use on Testshoots, Commercial shoots, Campaigns and everything else too.
I always use a one light set up. The light is positioned directly in front of the model, a little bit above her head. I usually tilt the light down at a 45° angle.
Underneath the models face there’s always a silver reflector to fill in the shadows. I always take a few test photos when setting up the light, and that’s where I make sure that the light is perfectly centered. The easiest way to tell is by the nose highlight – when the highlight on the model’s nose is straight and in the middle of the nose, the light is centered.
I currently use this Selens reflector with 4 different colors in one.
The highlighted line on the model’s nose is perfectly in the middle, and so was the light.
There’s also other colors of reflectors, like white and gold. I prefer the silver one because the bounce back id strong and neutral. On white reflectors the bounce back would be softer, and with the gold one it would have a yellow/orange hue. Which reflector you use is totally up to you and the style you’re going for. I got my reflector via Amazon, the price really doesn’t matter with these – you should focus more on the size. Mine is about 1 meter long and about half a meter wide.
This is the light I’m currently using. I have 2 if I ever need to use multiple, together with 2 umbrellas. They’re not cheap, but compared to other options that are just as good they’re very reasonably priced.
When it comes to settings, there’s just a few things I keep an eye on. Firstly, the highest aperture my light can take is 1/200, so that’s what I stick to. I always keep the ISO as low as possible, to ensure that there is absolutely no grain in the photo. I set the f-stop to 18-22, depending on the look and backdrop I’m using. The acutal brightness of the photo I adjust by highering or lowering the power of the light.
In the studio I always shoot with my 105mm Sigma lens and my Nikon D750. If you wanna know more about lenses check out this recent blog post all about them!