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.