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This post is part of a larger tutorial called Creative Lighting Without a Flash

The second component of creative lighting is revealing the details and textures that make the subject unique. I used a completely different setup for these examples because I wanted to emphasize details rather than just shadows. A piece of fruit, a watch, flower, or tv remote should work well here. Building off what I learned with my wooden model, I started my second series.

I placed an orange on a black piece of foam-core and positioned the light behind the orange. As you can see in the first image (below left) there is virtually no detail visible in the orange. (Why do I keep typing “oranged”?! It’s driving me nuts!) Anyway, instead of positioning another light, thereby complicating the scene, I grabbed a big white envelope to serve as my reflector. I held it between the camera and the orange but just off to the left of the frame. The second image shows the results. This effectively revealed the texture of the orange, but it still seemed a bit flat.

To remedy this I repositioned the light above and slightly behind the orange, and then I fired the third shot (below left). This simple adjustment simultaneously gave me a strong backlight, plenty of texture, and solid shape. I thought the texture could use a little more depth, so I added the reflector and fired the last shot. The orange now has more form, texture, and color.

Normally I wouldn’t place something like an orange against a black background –it just seems out of place. BUT, think of how different the image would feel if I used a white floor/background. All the light would be reflected back at the orange. After all, my reflector was nothing but a white piece of paper. Think back to the photos of the wooden model. How do you think it would appear if I used a black background instead of white?? Remember that your shooting environment accounts for a lot of the bounced light. Just because you don’t intentionally put a reflector in the scene doesn’t mean there won’t be any reflected light. Try to keep this in mind as you set up your shot.

Next I ate the orange and then placed my watch on the foam-core. The next series of images follows a similar pattern: Shoot a photo, reposition the light, use the reflector as needed. Those are the only things I changed in this next series; it didn’t get any more complicated than that. Again, hover your cursor over an image for a brief description. Click here to view as slideshow.

Careful attention to detail will easily put your photos a step above most others’. Using a reflector is an excellent way to accent those details. The beautiful thing about a reflector is that it can never be more powerful than the original light source. It’s entirely possible to use a Fill light to reveal details, but just be careful that it doesn’t overpower your Key light. On a random note: watches are almost always photographed with the time reading “10:10.” They say it’s the most aesthetically pleasing time. Go figure.

Continue to Part III: Capturing Highlights and Reflections

This post is part of a larger tutorial called Creative Lighting Without a Flash

Now we turn our attention to the third and final component of creative lighting: highlights and reflections. Obviously, you will need a reflective or transparent surface like a wine glass, cologne bottle, sunglasses, vase, or kitchen utensils. The tricky part about shooting a subject like this is that you need to define its shape and reveal its details without blowing out the highlights or causing any undesired reflections. It’s a tall order for sure, but once you get the hang of it you will be more attentive to the fine details of an image and your photography will improve because of it.

For the next series, I had a particular image in mind that I wanted to capture. I wanted the image to have a dark feeling overall, yet a rich, regal boldness to it. (These are the sort of useless guidelines you get when someone tries to verbally describe something visual =) That being said, I knew in my head what I wanted, and I set out to capture it. I started with a black floor and background, and a single key light.

For starters, the glass looks flat and formless. The wine (which is really just water and red food coloring) looks cloudy and black at the top, and the glass is riddled with ugly reflections and glaring highlights. Clearly a strong key light won’t work, so I turned it off and took another photo using only a backlight shining on the background.

Now we’re getting closer. It’s still a little too dark; there’s not much color in the wine, but at least it’s not suffering from terrible highlights and reflections now. From here, I took a series of images that combined the backlight with the fill light. I had more success in the latter half of the images where I used a reflector to bounce more light at the glass without blowing out the highlights. The last couple images are close to what I wanted, but not quite it. View as slideshow.

After all this, I decided that the best way to get what I was aiming for was to use a white floor and background. This means that my environment will now work as a reflector, so I shouldn’t even need any fill light. Sure enough, I changed my setup from black (below left) to white (below right), and then captured the following image right away.

I also did a similar shot with a cologne bottle, but this time I wanted to emphasize the importance of White Balance. The only thing that changed in the following images was the WB.

Don’t overlook the importance of color in your photos. Particularly when you’re using desk lamps the Auto WB setting on your camera will likely give the image a yellow-orange tone.

For my final example, I chose to shoot an old hard drive that I dismantled. I was amazed at how reflective the disks were –just like a mirror! I knew this would add another layer of difficulty, so I pulled together everything I knew to capture the following images. View as slideshow.

The biggest difference for this one was adding a “ceiling” to the environment. Since the disks were so reflective I was seeing the ceiling of my room in the reflection. The picture below shows that I suspended the second piece of foam-core as a ceiling to ensure that the reflections were smooth and free of distractions.

As you can see, the game changes quite a bit when you start shooting transparent or reflective surfaces. Backlighting no longer produces only a rim of light around your subject, but it can illuminate the body of it. Bounced lighting can do more than simply reveal detail, it can serve as the main light source in the scene.

To sum it up: Shadows provide form and shape to the subject. Fill Light reveals its details and texture. And Highlights bring it to life. All of these aspects are controlled in three-point lighting. What I’ve done here is simply isolate each one and then observe how they all fit together.

Continue to Part IV: Advanced Techniques, and Lessons Learned.

This post is part of a larger tutorial called Creative Lighting Without a Flash

Advanced Techniques – If you need a bigger reflector try using a sun visor (like the ones you put in your windshield). Some of them are identical to professional reflectors except that they are designed to fit in a windshield.

Position all three lamps next to each other to create “one” bright, soft light. With the combined intensities you may be able to photograph bigger objects and use a faster shutter speed.

Shoot in context. Instead of using a black piece of foam core board, use a board game as your background and let your subject be the game pieces. Try to create an engaging product shot that would sell or summarize the game. A sharp-looking chess set would be a perfect place to start.

Try lighting something with a screen, for example: a compact camera, iPhone, GPS device, or digital clock. First make sure the screen is displaying something, then see if you can capture a well-lit shot without the screen being washed out. Watch out for glares and reflections.

Lessons Learned – You don’t have to use expensive equipment to achieve stunning results. Creative thinkers with some ingenuity will always be leading the way in the photography industry. Don’t let yourself be stifled by what you don’t have.

The main advantage of working with desk lamps is that you can “see” the light and sculpt it instantly. When using strobes you have to fire a test shot, review it, make adjustments, and then fire another test shot. These little desk lamps, on the other hand, allow you to instantly see how the position of the light is affecting your subject. If possible, reposition the lights while looking through the viewfinder to observe the changes.

Learn how light “works” with little lamps first and you’ll find yourself much less intimidated by more complex lighting equipment.

It’s easiest to compare differences in lighting if the position of the camera and the subject remains unchanged.

Subtle changes can make a huge difference.

Desk lamps don’t put out nearly as much light as a strobe. Because of this, you will most likely be using relatively long exposures; that means you need a tripod and a stationary subject. Also, this means that if you try adding a flash to the mix it will significantly overpower the other lights.

Light intensity diminishes with distance (*quadratically, if you care to know). Therefore the further the lights are from the subject, the less effective they will be. This essentially limits you to shooting very small subjects –probably nothing larger than one cubic foot.

Don’t complicate it by adding every lamp you own. Do as much as you can with a simple setup. A creative thinker once said, “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. “

The most common barrier between a good photographer and an exceptional photographer is the ability to see and capture light.