I used to always be afraid of studio lighting.  The big stands, umbrellas, boxes and endless plugs turned me off.  But the more I got into photography, the more I realized how important it was to have an awareness of your light source and the direction of light.  Whether you are shooting in studio or working with the big old sun, lighting is every thing!

The summer can feel like a relief from the gloomy, dark winter days.  But what do you do with harsh shadows at a summer picnic?  Or what about the bright sun that makes your subjects squint?  Too much light can be as problematic as not enough light.  This month, I gave the SOAR! Recipients a second photography exercise to prepare them for summer shooting.  I asked them to each build their own Barbie-Sized Studio to familiarize themselves more with the direction of light.  You may be wondering what a Barbie Studio has to do with the summer sun.  The answer is EVERY THING.  By creating our own studio set up, we can experiment with where the light is coming from, identifying ALL the light sources (is it bouncing off the white board underneath our feet or being sucked up by the dark, green grass?).  What if we experimented with shifting our Barbie (in small increments) for different lighting results on her face, hair and background?

This photography exercise was inspired by Pascaline.  She got a new Barbie for Christmas this year, and she loved all the “studio” looking shots of her Barbie on the packaging.  I told her that she could do a photo shoot of her own Barbies and get the same look.  It’s just a matter of setting up the right type of lighting.  And before you knew it, Brian was looking for a cardboard box, black construction paper, and desk lamps.  I started punching holes in the black construction paper with Pascaline.  And the rest is history!

We have a couple $10 aluminum canned lights from Home Depot.  Brian put one of the lights behind the cardboard box, so that they would shine through the holes in the black paper.  You could create the same effect by having one of the kids hold a big flashlight behind the paper.

Nothing fancy.  Keep it simple with whatever cardboard boxes and tape you can find to hold up the construction paper.

Once you have your Barbie Studio set up, find a way to prop up your doll and then find different lights to shine on her.  This is where things start to get super fun, and at the same time your awareness of directional lighting expands!

For example, shine one desk lamp on her and notice how the lighting looks.  Now turn a second desk lamp on and point it at the side of your doll’s face.  How does that change the way she’s being lit?  If you find that you like a little bit of extra side lighting, bring a helper to your next summer shoot and have someone hold a reflector off to the side of your subject.

I also grabbed a headlamp and played around with different angles.  I pointed it at the back of Barbie’s hair to show Pascaline how rim light (that golden outline, glow on hair) is achieved.  To capture rim light with the sun, make sure the sun is behind your subject like your headlamp was and meter on the subject’s face.

Here are a couple of Pascaline’s favorites!  Isn’t Barbie looking posh!

Love the lighting on this next one!  Especially love the low f-stop that creates the blurry white background spotlights.

This is a wonderful photo exercise to try with your kids.  Instead of being your subjects, they get to be the photographer as you adjust their lighting.  I watched Pascaline’s mind explode with wonder and adventure as she played around with her studio lights!  But be prepared for your mind and creativity to be inspired too!

Before you lift up your camera this summer, first take a moment to pause and answer all that you can about the light surrounding you and your subject.  Recall this exercise.  Identify where the main light source is.  Think about how you can shift your subject to capture rim light, light their hair so it’s golden looking from the sun, or simply ensure that no one is squinting.

If you do this exercise, email me photos of your homemade studio and the results  you captured!  I’d love to share them with our readers!  Next week on the SOAR! blog, you’ll get to see the homemade studios our SOAR! gals made!  Stay tuned!

xoxo,

m