Stepping up your photographic lighting

Do you want to make your photography stand out and become sensational, then it's time to really understand what is happening in your camera.
We all want to make better photographs, but it only happens when we have the knowledge of lighting. Whether you shoot outdoors or in studio with studio lights, certain principles make one's photography exceptional.

Anyone can turn on a light or go outdoors and shoot a picture in the sun. Great images are created by studying the light at different times of day and you begin to see how natural light changes during the day.

Shooting with studio lights are the same as shooting outdoors, you have the ability to create dynamic lighting with a couple of studio lights.

The one thing you need to control your lighting is a flash-meter. You must know the power a light is putting out and control that light, only a meter will tell you what your lights are doing. If you intend to improve your photography then you must buy a meter to know what your lights are doing.

I use a  Sekonic L-308 Meter, but there are many that will do the job, some are larger and more expensive, the L-308 is very compact, reliable not that expensive, costing a little over $200. I know many of you will say you can look at the image on the back of your camera and think you can set your lights by looking at the back of your camera.
Well, I have to tell you it does not work well. You need the meter.

Stepping up your lighting means adding a Hair or Rim light. This makes the body appear 3 dimensional and both lights add light to hair to make it much more attractive and not looking flat and boring. Here are links to the Hair light  Strip Soft Box ,  Light  , Boom  Backdrop Outlet also has available a complete light kit that has everything you need. Complete Kit  
Background shown above MA6705 Generally when lighting hair, I use a Backdrop Outlet strip light with one of my smaller electronic flash units,   I mount the light and strip light to a boom arm. This allows me to use the softbox about 1' to 2' over the models head and the boom arm keeps the entire light out of the picture, but I can see the remarkable effect it creates in my photos. Background Shown MSS5011
Look closely at the hair and how shoulders are lit, When you light hair and shoulders with a separate light set from one to two stops brighter than the main subject light, your photography will begin to take on a much more professional look. You create depth and brilliance in your images.
 Background shown FLX134
When metering the light, using an incident light meter, you position the meter with the little white dome at the object you are trying to light and aim its direction toward the light. Then you would typically set the hair light hotter (brighter) by one or two stops more than your main light depending on the models hair color. Background Shown MSS6048
I have always felt the hair light creates that sunlight feeling and will give your photography new dimension, moving it into the next level of professionalism.
All you need to accomplish this next level in your photography is:
1. an Electronic Flash Meter
2. a small Electronic Flash unit like the SoCal 200 (link to Light)
3. Backdrop Outlet Boom  (Link to Boom)
4. Backdrop Outlet strip light with cloth louvers. (Link to Strip Soft Box)
 
 and I am Art Ketchum and this is one of my trademark lights I use in the vast majority of my lighting.
All backgrounds shown in this post can be found at BACKDROP OUTLET

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