The lightning is the basic equipment in studio photography. The use of best lightning in studio take your photography to a professional level. It is tricky and exciting to choose best lightning for studio photography. In market you will find expensive and some affordable lightning kits for photography studio. The best photography lightning kit depends upon your theme of shooting. In this article you will find a complete guidelines about best studio lightning for photography.
Kinds of photography lightning
There are many types of lightning used in photography to take professional shoot. The type of light depends upon the power you need and also influenced by your budget. The two basic types of lightning that used in photography studio are natural light and artificial lights.
Natural light
Natural light is the light coming from sun and moon. These lights give an aesthetic view in photos. These provide free lightning for photography but these are limited to timings.
Artificial lights
The artificial lights used in studio photography are of many types depending on duration like flash lights and continuous lights. These are used to fulfill lightning needs such as background lights. The characteristics of these artificial lights are mentioned below:
Speed-light or flash light
These are the best small flash lights used in and out of studio . As these are of small sized so these produce a narrow beam of light which produce an artificial look in photos. These are connected with cameras to fire off when you press shutter button. Many speed lights are used together to get best lightning in studio. In markets , speed lights provides portable option with in a great versatility. As these are portable so mostly used for shooting weddings and sports. These are less expensive and you can afford these with in your budget for your photography studio.
Continuous lightning
The continuous lightning provides lights uninterrupted during shooting. These are also known as hot lights that are constant source of lights. The continuous lightning are best for videography and portrait shooting. With using these lights you can see and adjust the effects of lightning on subject. For beginners the use of continuous lights is easy to use as compared to flash lights because by using these lights you can adjust the effect of light before taking photos. These lights are more popular for product photography. There are three types of continuous lights: Florescent , LED and tungsten.
Florescent lights
In markets florescent bulbs are available in different colors and shades such as white, green, yellow and red. These lights are popular choice of many photographers because these do not over heat. These lights bulbs are used for product photography and for portraits in studios. These light bulbs have low shutter speed therefore ensure that your camera is on tripod stand so you can open your lens over a wide aperture.
One limit in using these lights bulbs is that these lights are difficult to use outside due to competing daylight.
LED lights
These lights are type of continuous light which is becoming popular among photographers. If you have low budget for starting your photography studio then you can invest your money in LED lights as these are inexpensive. These lights also provide a complete control so you can attach light modifier with these continuous lights like umbrellas and soft box. In markets these are available in different sizes such as these are also available in panels which are mostly used in product photography. Some LEDs also allow to change color so these can be used for creating aesthetic view in photos. These are also do not overheat.
Disadvantage of using LEDs
- These lights do not provide sufficient lights as compared to florescent lights.
- There is difficulty to use them outside in combining with daylight.
- You need to work on white balance for getting the right color effect in your photos.
Tungsten lights
The last but not least type of continuous light is tungsten lights. These can also be used in homes as a white-hot bulbs but there wattage is more high. These are easily available in markets LED lights. For controlling light direction you will need a dish reflector. These are best option to use for portraits and still life photography.
Disadvantage of using tungsten lights
- The main disadvantage of tungsten light is that these burn very hot. So be careful while using tungsten lights.
- You can not use light modifier like umbrellas or soft box with these lights because these burn very hot and there is a risk of fire with using light modifiers.
- The other limitation of using tungsten light is the adjustment of color effect in photography.
Strobe lights
A strobe light is also known as mono-lights that produce flash with a quick burst of light. These lights are more powerful than continuous lights. This is a popular light equipment among many professional photographers. The cables are used to powered these strobe lights. These cables are depends on the variety of strobes , for example the inexpensive cable is used for cheap strobe.
Usually strobes are used with modeling lights which is a continuous bulb that is helpful in developing set up and and enable you to see where the both lights and shadow will fall on your subject , before using the strobe light.
Accessories with studio lightning
To get more perfect photos you will also need some accessories with studio photography lightning. These include lightning kits and light modifiers which are easily available in market in great versatility.
Light modifiers
A light modifier is a best accessory that help to control and adjust studio lights during shooting. The most popular light modifiers include soft box and umbrellas etc.
Soft box and diffusers
The soft box and many other light diffusers are used to softens the powerful lights and create a progressive change between dark and light bands of image. These are available in different shapes like square, rectangle or octagonal. These soft box are popular light modifier because they produce soft lights. If you are confusing in deciding what type of light modifier should you buy then buy a soft-box or light diffusers.
Umbrellas
This is also a type of light diffuse like soft box. The reflective umbrella are used to point away lights from the subject and sends a focused beam of light back towards the subject.
Beauty dish
A beauty dish is a best light modifier for portrait and fashion photography. Due to their unique shape these illuminates lights from all angles. The beauty dish creates a more vibrant light than a soft-box therefore mostly used in portrait photography.
Grids
These are used as an attachment with other light modifiers to create a larger degree of divergence. These focus the light to a smaller area. In markets these are available in different sizes even in honeycomb like pattern . The main purpose of using grids is to control the quality of light and area of shooting.
Snoot
It is very specific and popular light modifier that is used to create a very focused beam of light. These are mainly use to shine a focused light on a very particular area , for example these are used as a background lights.
Conclusion
There are many types of studio lightning and accessories that used in photography studio to take perfect shoots. So choose the studio lightning according to theme of your photography. Hope this article will help you in deciding the best studio lightning for photography.
