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The Improvised Studio: Using Non-Photographic Lighting
By Jerry Currier | Wisdom and Inspiration |
Feb 1, 2006
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All images by Jerry Currier
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| An example of clamp-on reflector light units |
Robert Farber’s recent Assignment 23 challenged photographers to use
non-photographic lights to illuminate a subject. This brought to
mind the many times I have seen “letters-to-the-editor” in magazines
and comments on such venues as the PWS forums that the writer is saving
up to buy “professional” lighting equipment, apparently with the intent
of improving their photographic skills with the addition of expensive
tools.
The professional photographer who makes a living doing studio
portraiture or commercial assignments wants to have precise control
over the lighting in order to eliminate guesswork. This is
particularly true if they're shooting with film, as there is often no second
opportunity to correct any problems encountered in the initial shoot. I
have worked in professional studios with professional lighting
equipment, and in makeshift “studios” with improvised lighting and have
been able to achieve the desired results in both situations.
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| Light bulbs that can be used in clamp-on lamp units |
Access to professional lighting equipment is no longer an option for me,
and as much as I might like to own such gear, I can’t justify spending
several thousand dollars to acquire this kind of equipment for occasional usage. Thus, improvisation has
become a necessity. While there is no question that having access to studio lighting units has
definite advantages, the average photographer with a limited budget
can achieve much with a few inexpensive clamp-on lights and some
ingenuity.
I have several clamp-on reflector light units, sometimes sold as
“trouble lights” at hardware outlets. They're inexpensive and
versatile. By using different bulbs in these units, I can achieve
a wide variety of lighting effects. Sheets of heavy white
cardboard (poster board), found at art supply stores, are used as fill
cards to round out my lighting equipment. The clamp-on lamp units allow for arranging the lights to suit the
project and can be clamped onto anything handy—a chair back, a step
ladder, and often a tripod. Selecting a unit with a swivel clamp
assembly allows for swiveling the lamp socket and the attached aluminum
reflector into many positions, thus providing the maximum amount of
versatility for arranging the lighting in any given situation.
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| A lighting setup for shooting a still life |
Although these units are intended for use with ordinary household
incandescent light bulbs—hence the reflector—they will also
accommodate any medium screw base bulbs. I have used them with
such diverse bulbs as track lighting spots, floods, R-series floods and
spots and, of course, ordinary household bulbs. With the advent of modern digital cameras, proper color (white) balance
is easily accomplished. Thus the need to have the proper film
emulsions and/or filters for the various forms of tungsten lamp is not
a serious issue.
The aluminum reflectors on the light units may seem redundant for some
of these lamps that have their own built in reflectors, but they do
have advantages. You can easily create diffusers with cheese cloth
or frosted plastic, taped or clipped to the reflector. A word of
caution here: Most incandescent lamps generate quite a bit of heat,
creating the potential for a serious fire hazard. This is
especially true if you are using some sort of diffusing material over
the reflector. Children and pets may also create a cause for
safety considerations, such as getting entangled in the cords or the
possibility of burns from hot bulbs or reflectors. It is never
wise to leave these lights unattended.
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| The resulting image |
As mentioned above, white cardboard, such as poster board
found at any art supply store is very effective for creating
fill. Sheets can be arranged and held by hand or clipped to a
music stand, a chair back, an old tripod or the like. Clothespins
or office binder clips that may be obtained at an office supply
outlet serve very well for this purpose. You can create different
lighting
effects for background illumination by affixing crumpled
aluminum over the poster board, and use this to bounce light onto the
background.
Another useful tool is Elmer’s Display Board. Again, you can find this board
at art supply and stationery outlets. It's available in white or
black, and may be used as both a “floor” and background for still-life
subjects. It is designed to stand on a table or another
flat surface, thus it is easily used as a simple background for
portraits. One final piece of equipment I have found useful is a switchable power
strip. I can plug my lights into it and it requires only one
outlet. There are units available with a built-in circuit
breaker, which will reduce the risk of overloading the household
circuits.
So experiment, create your own studio at home, and use it to
expand your photographic knowledge and fun imaging opportunities.
Let us know if you found this article useful, and tell us what kinds of articles you'd like to see in upcoming issues. Send your comments and ideas to the editor.
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Last Updated: Jul 29th, 2010 - 13:28:46
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