Studio lighting
Light is something that we take for granted. Natural light is there wherever we go but inside we need to add light to produce quality images. Available light is the light we have in the situation and not adding any extra light like with the flash light.
Studio is a controlled environment, allowing the photographer to set up lighting in a variety of creative ways. Lighting can be controlled to emphasize visual elements such as texture, detail, form and shape, along with the overall mood of the picture.
Light Quality
The quality of a light source can be described by the type of shadow it casts. Shadows can be hard, with defined edges of high contrast, or soft, with diffused edges, giving lower contrast – or anywhere in-between these extremes. The use and control of certain equipment or attachments will affect the quality of light.
Snoot
The snoot fits over the spotlight or flash unit and concentrates the beam, restricting the light to a small circular area. The snoot is good for controlling the direction light and tends to produce a harder quality of light with more contrast.
Reflector
The reflector is commonly attached to spotlights or flash units and is usually a curved metal dish with silver on the inside, installed behind the light bulb in order to reflect all the light forward. The smaller the reflector, the more directional and harder the light quality will be and the larger the reflector, the more dispersed and softer the light quality.
Barn Doors
Barn doors usually surround a studio flash unit, with the doors giving control over the direction and intensity of the flashlight. The barn doors control the range of light and can limit the beam, so light qualities can range from softer (with the doors wide open) to harder (with the doors more closed, narrowing the beam)
Soft Box
The soft box diffuses the light, creating a more natural quality of light, resulting in low contrast. Soft boxes are often used in portrait photography and can help create more softer results by producing more graduated, smoother skin tones. The natural light equivalent would be seen on a cloudy day, as opposed to the harder light of direct sunlight.
Light Direction
The direction of the light source determines where the shadows will fall on the subject. This will affect your composition dramatically, with clear differences in appearance of shape, form and texture as the light direction is altered. The light direction will also affect how the main subject is seen against or how it contrasts with the background.
We can control the direction and the quality of the light in a studio. We have to take into consideration the type of the light as well. Lighting tends to look more natural when directed from above as this is usually the situation in daylight. Conversely, light tends to look more menacing and dramatic when directed from underneath. Light directed towards the front of the subject illuminates detail, but minimizes shadows.