studiolighting

Light Modifiers for Portrait Photos: A Beginner’s Guide

In the two-plus decades I’ve been a photographer, finding the right light modifiers for the varied work that I did was a challenge. In the small community I lived in, my subject matter ranged from commercial photography to weddings and portraits. Each subject required its own type of lighting.

What Are Parabolic Light Modifiers and Are They Worth It?

Parabolic light has become increasingly popular among fashion and portrait photographers. With so many options to choose from, a photographer may get lost or not understand the modifiers at all.

How to Light Headshots: Five Tips from Peter Hurley

When it comes to headshots, there is perhaps no better source of information and guidance than the man who has made an empire out of the practice. In this five minute video on the, Peter Hurley quickly breaks down his favorite tips to light the perfect headshot.

The Photographer’s Guide to Beauty Dishes

The beauty dish is one of the most commonly used light modifiers for beauty and portrait work, but being popular doesn’t mean that it’s an easy-to-use modifier without any quirks and intricacies. In fact, you can only harness the true magic of the beauty dish if you know the principles behind it inside-out. In this article, I will explain everything you need to know when using a beauty dish.

A Glossary of Lighting Terms Used in Photography

When starting out in photography, you are bombarded with terms, definitions, and a whole new universe of things you must know as a photographer. Sometimes the definitions are confusing at best, seemingly conflicting at worst. When it comes to lighting, there's a big list of terms and jargon that you need to know. Here are some of the common ones with simple definitions and explanations.

Android Smartphones Can Now Use Profoto Pro Flashes

Profoto continues to push its support for smartphones with the launch of AirX Smart-TTL support in the Profoto Camera Android app. Available now in beta, the app allows you to use select Profoto lights in combination with your Android smartphone.

You Can Now Use Profoto’s B10 Studio Strobes with Your iPhone

Profoto has just announced (in their words) "an innovation that rewrites the rules of photography." Thanks to a technology called Profoto AirX, the company has made their B10 flash series compatible with the iPhone, allowing mobile photographers to use a Xenon flash to its full potential "for the first time in history."

3 Things Most Photographers Get Wrong About Flash

In this video, we’ll talk you through 3 common misconceptions when it comes to flash. These are easy mistakes any photographer can make so pay attention and see how to correct them with these easy tips!

Shootout: Comparing 17 Photography Lighting Modifiers

With the huge range of lighting modifiers available–umbrellas, beauty dishes, soft boxes, octaboxes, and on and on and on—it can be hard for a first time buyer to understand the differences and decide how to best spend their money. Photographer Scott Choucino to the rescue.

5 Lighting Portrait Positions for Couples

Lighting two people can be difficult to do, so I’m going to use 5 portrait lighting positions to breakdown how to best light a couple.

How to Light Glass in a Studio

What is the best way to light glass? Glass doesn’t look good when you shine light directly at it. It soaks up the light it doesn’t define it. It just gives you specular highlights little pinpoints that don’t photograph well.

How to Place a Softbox to Finesse the Look You Want

Today we are going to talk about placing a softbox -- not the positions that you would use, like a Rembrandt, a butterfly, or a loop, but how to place it once it’s in position. Let’s talk about how to finesse the look that you want to achieve while using a softbox.

Randomizing Photo Shoots to Stretch My Creativity

I am a fan of light (honestly what photographer isn’t?). Hard light; reflected light; dappled light; low-key light; colored light -- I love it all. Light makes or breaks not only my images but my mood. I’d venture to say that light is sandwiched between “belonging” and “safety” on my hierarchical pyramid of needs.

7 Easy Portrait Lighting Setups

Here’s a simple breakdown of 7 different lighting techniques you can implement next time you shoot portraits with studio lighting. For these examples, we used continuous lights to better illustrate it, but you can strobes as well, of course.

Shooting a Rolleiflex with Studio Flash and Rolleinars

In this fast-changing age of digital photography, one ingredient missing is a full frame square format camera or digital back. Yes, you can always crop off for a square, but this is not the same as looking through a dedicated square format camera with full resolution. So, what does a photographer preferring the square format do? My option has always been to shoot square format film cameras.

iPhone X Portrait Lighting Versus Real Studio Lighting

The new iPhone X has a number of Portrait Lighting looks that allow users to "fake" professional lighting styles. Here's a 4-minute video by photographer Daniel DeArco that compares the iPhone X's Portrait Lighting with the real studio lighting setups they're designed to mimic.