Make and use of a light box

A light box is a simple and easy to use photography tool. If you do not have a ready-made box, then you can also make it on your own. This is actually a tool, which is used by photographers for softening the light coming from the flash unit. Often the light coming out from the flash unit is very harsh and can spoil the quality of the photograph. The harsh light can also create dim silhouettes around the object. The light box is generally positioned amid the object and the flash unit. This box soaks up some light and helps the photographer to take a softer picture.

Use and placement of the box

In some situations, a very large light box is utilized, making it very hard to move around. While sometimes the box might be designed in a way that it can taken from one place to another. The way the lights are positioned in a light box, is also a very important point. The main objective is to achieve crisp and even lighting devoid of any hot spots. A number of lights and diffusers are used for this purpose.

Make of this tool

Either glass or plexiglass is used for making this box, which is normally shaded or fogged for reducing the glare coming from the lights beneath. The complete assembly of a light box is enfolded in a strong frame. The frame often comes with divots or drawers for storing the box. This box is a very vital tool for macro photography.

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Equipments used for setting Photography lighting

Lighting is the lifeline of a photograph, both for indoor photography as well as outdoor photography. A good and skilled photographer should know about every aspect of Photography lighting. When you shoot outdoors, you get plenty of natural light. On the other hand, when you shoot indoors, you will have to arrange all the lights. Therefore, when you take pictures in studios you should decide the source of light and also the way to use the light.

Different available options

Each kind of lighting can be used in the right way, based on the effect you desire for. Therefore, you should not stick to one type of Photography lighting. Earlier majority of the photographers used the floodlights, but now most of them have turned towards electronic flash. Those who wish to know more about Photography lighting should also know about the various kinds of lights. Electronic flash is also known as strobe light or speed light. At the time of choosing flashlights, you should check the recycle time and flash duration as well.

Other equipments used for lighting

Most of the times photographers do not use electronic flashlights as it is. They modify the lights for diverse effects. There are many types of equipments, which helps to modify Photography lighting. For producing less directional and soft light, one can use reflectors, soft boxes, or umbrellas. One can also use a light meter for reading the flash output. This meter is advantageous for a multi-light setting. One can also buy a Photography lighting kit, which comes with flash units, stands, soft boxes, umbrellas, reflectors etc.

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Different components of Photographic studio lighting

While deciding the Photographic studio lighting, you should not only decide the amount of light you need, but you also have to settle on the kind of lighting you need like cold, warm or hot light. Hot lights are the conventional tungsten lights, which burns incessantly. The main benefit of such Photographic studio lighting is that you can track the changes in lighting without meters or Polaroid tests. However, some photographers do not use such lights because of the heat they generate and limited accessories controlling the light.

Other kinds of light

Fluorescent light bulbs are called warm lights, because they use less electricity and are much cooler than hot lights. Electronic flashes are also used in Photographic studio lighting. These are known as cold lights, and are more powerful as compared to the in- built flashes in your camera. Another available option for Photographic studio lighting is moonlight. This kind of light have a wall passage on one end and there is a flash tube on the other end, along with capacitors amidst them.

Choosing studio strobes and other tools

If you choose the wrong camera then your whole work can be destroyed. In the same manner, choosing the wrong brand of Photographic studio lighting can bring trouble. You also need to buy other tools for controlling the lights. Earlier umbrellas were popular tool for controlling the light, but these days photographers mostly prefer soft box for diffusing the lights. Some of the other diffusing tools include snoots, barn doors, reflectors and many more. If you are tired of the old studio light system, then you can paint your pictures with different lights.

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How a beginner can use Photographic Studio Lighting in Digital Photography

Setting up a digital photography studio is every photographer’s dream and it is quite an easy process. The main aspect of studio photography is the need to use artificial photographic light and to get such light means investing in various equipments.

Digital studio photography is also known as portrait photography and getting into it usually means spend considerable money. For a photographer who wants to set up a digital studio with a small investment can start out with a basic photographic lighting setup. A really good but basic photographic lighting kit includes a light stand, one reflector, background paper, background stand, an umbrella and 500 or 750 watt light.

A photographic lighting kit containing such equipment could easily be purchased around or even under $300. Even such a basic kit could give some nice lighting when in a digital photography studio. If you want to go for a strobe, you will need to invest a bit more money. Somewhere in the vicinity of about $3000 can be spent to get two lights, some soft boxes, and the power supplies.

Should you not want to go with hot lights that are constantly on, you could go for a low cost set-up that includes two light stands, two flash/umbrella holders, two Vivitar 285HVs , two sync cords, a sync splitter, a grey card, two softbox umbrellas, and two shoot through umbrellas.

If you hunt around, you can get most of these items second hand on eBay for about $200. Also get a background and you can also do indoor posed shots and portraits. You will also want to consider getting a hot shoe converter so that you can get the sync cables to hook up. Setting up digital photographic studio lighting doesn't have to cost a lot of money for the first-timer.

It all depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it.

Techniques to use Photographic lighting outdoors

A fun part of photography is the use of photographic light since it lets the photographer explore various techniques and tricks. Photography is certainly about bringing out creativity and by using photographic light when outdoors enables the photographer to be more creative. Photographs which are taken outdoors can be interpreted in different ways depending on the techniques applied to use the lighting. Thus, a photographer does not have to follow any specific rules when using photographic lighting. The photographic lighting can be used in many ways depending upon the message that has to be portrayed and this also depends on using the right color and contrast.

To truly bring out the essence and beauty in an outdoor photograph, side light can be quite ideal. With side lighting, nearby objects tend to diffuse with the subject, causing deep shadows, and silhouettes to form in the pictures being taken. Since black and white pictures, need to have deep contrast and depth in the shadows, the side Photography lighting technique is quite appropriate to click black and white pictures.

The front lighting technique also proves useful for the photographer at times. It is said that the sun light falling over the subject can create a bright effect which can smug the appearance of the picture. In such a condition it is better for the photographer to take the pictures with sun behind the camera. This way the sun light would not really affect the subject and the color of the subject as well as the background would be brought out.

Ideal tips to for a photographer to use digital Photography Lighting

Photography lighting is a factor which can be quite beneficial for the creation of good pictures whether the photographer is a professional or a beginner. Guidance to use photography lighting can be found in books and on the internet.

The ideal part about using artificial light in a studio is that the setting up the studio lighting to be effective enough does not cost too much. Here are a few tips which would help a photographer make use of photographic light for reducing flash glare, eliminating shadow and improving the overall clarity of the photographs.

As mentioned, a good photography light setup does not necessarily have to be too really expensive. For a beginner lighting setup, the photographer might not even need to use professional lighting, but can even use halogen desk lamps. It is also advisable that fluorescent or tinted bulbs are not used as they would increase the task of correction during the picture editing.

When it comes to choosing the photographic studio lighting setup, the photographer actually has three different options but their choice would also depend upon the location where the photograph is being taken.

A basic lighting setup can be appropriate if the photographer needs to use light at an angle. A single light can be used if shadows have to be created and to minimize shadows, more lights can be used. A backlit setup provides the lighting from behind the subject that is being photographed. With backlit photography lighting the three dimensional quality of the subject is improved and a clear backdrop is need for it.