Shop at B&H: bhpho.to/impactlighting Join Impact maven Joey Quintero as he provides an overview of the essential principles, techniques, and tools for lighting.
Great philosophy, "Don't get too close to your tools." I once had a prof who told us, "Amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light..." I think if you get too obsessed with the kind of camera or equipment you have, you lose touch with your art. In the end it's all about composition, focus and light. I really enjoyed this, Thank You!
Thanks for the great video on lighting. It was a great refresher course, and reminded me of a few things I have forgotten, and gave me a few new tips also. I can't wait for the next one!
Nice video. Very technical and pointed out a few details that I wasn't aware of. I wish Joey would repeat the questions. He is very generous in answering all the questions, but it would be very helpful to know what those questions are. I can't wait for the next installments.
@dgnestico With opening or closing a full f/number you are doubling or halving the light. From a f/5.6 to f/4 you make the aperture (hole) larger and double the amount of light allowed through the lens. From f/5.6 to f/8 you make the aperture smaller and halved the amount of light is allowed through the lens.
Wonderful video. There's a reference website link that Joey mentions along the end of the video but I can't find it anywhere. It is related to fashion photography, can someone who took note of this please share it?
Love if you can mic the audience so we can hear the questions, maybe hang one or 2 omni directional mics from above. Great to always go over the basics.
Really liked the class, thanks Joey for sharing. Looking forward to your upcoming videos. Love to get a copy of your pdf file. Would you please? Thanks.
Is it possible to get the PDF that he mentions? I live in Yukon and hard to get to you guys to attend the events.. but I am so happy that you upload them.. I have seen every single episode, almost as good as being there..
@eunicepeabody Under normal practice I would recommend adjusting the lights to get the desired F Stop, however, by simply moving the light forward or back a touch (inverse square law: Intermediate Lighting class) will give you the desired F-Stop. Re-meter to verify the F-Stop. Practice this method, you will see how effective this can be for adjusting the lights. Joey Quintero
If an image is shot at 5.6 and the background is lighter than the subject how can the background be 8 which is a smaller stop which would let in less light? I have a feeling it has something to do with metering off of the background using a handheld device but I am only guessing my way through this. Does it get explained somewhere. This is counter intuitive.
you adjust your settings for main subject at f11 in your camera, then meter for your background. If your background is not at the exposure you are wanting, then you adjust the the distance or output of your lighting?
Great video and educational. One suggestion I would like to make is please repeat the question that is asked by the audience. Can't hear the question that is asked. Thanks Jim
Hi, I like this video but, what has shutter speed got to do with the life of the shutter. It is a first curtain second curtain opening size issue. The shutter always has the same speed.
Great class. Would've been nice to hear the questions more clearly, but that's okay; the answers were what mattered. I've watched and rewatched it. It's terrific.
To increase 1 f-stop is twice as much light as you had previously. So if 2:1 is 1 stop difference, 4:1 is 2 stop difference, then 8:1 is 3 stop difference or 2 to the 3rd power.
At 42:40 .Why did you opt for F22 rather than F11 and then for 1/250 rather than 1/500 or 1/1000. At F11 everything will be in focus and you will have a faster shutter and a sharper image. Don't you worry about defraction because at F22 there is a chance for that to happen? Another question is that I fix my ISO to 100 for product photography and use a tripod. My F is usually at 8, 9 or 10 and then I will see what the shutter says. Is there a difference in sharpness even if my camera is on a tripod?
Having shared this video with a few photographers and my son who has just started taking photo courses in a local college...it is indeed a great review for me as well as providing inspiration and new ideas! Thanks for providing such outstanding photographic education opportunities to us all!
There is a portrait in the early part of the video shot against a black background. How does this portrait relate to the 2:1 studio ratio? More generally, the black background seems to invert these ratios - making the background the low portion of the ratio and the model, the high portion. i.e 1:2 instead of 2:1.
+Randal Cullen - I am happy to reach out to Joey and ask him, but first, would you be able to roughly cite at what time point in the video the image in question comes up so I can reference it to him? (i.e. 13:30). Thank in advance. - Yossi
+Burak Akpinar - If you aren’t using a light meter, you’ll need to guesstimate the correct exposure, take a shot, review it on your camera’s LCD (possibly use the histogram), and then adjust the exposure from there. You might start out at ISO 200, f/8, 1/125s and half power on the strobes. Though, this is just a suggestion as a starting point. What strobes you are using/light modifiers, and how far the strobes are from the subject will have critical impact on the exposure. *Christina* AskLighting@bhphoto.com
My only complaint is that I can't hear the questions from the class/audience and he doesn't repeat it before he answers it. It would be nice if there were "closed captioning" for those questions. :) Otherwise this was HUGELY helpful! It was absolutely worth the full 2 hours, I learned SO much!
it's an intro to studio lighting so of course some of the questions are very basic. I thought he did a very good job on his presentation and explanations
Here's Joey Quintero's follow-up to that presentation: Intermediate Lighting for Portraiture. Thanks for watching! Intermediate Lighting for Portraiture
I set my key TTL then just set the exposure comp on the rim and background lights. Occasionally I will use manual on the background... but not always. I do not own a light meter. Like Joey said "I am old-school". TTL is the future. Another way to look at it is .. I use the light meter in the camera to measure for me through the lens. Honestly I can shoot either way.... manual or TTL flash both work for me, however, TTL will automatically set my exposure. TTL is fastest I believe. No metering.. no adjusting lights and aperture... all automatic using todays TTL flash technology. I have a flash controller on top of my camera... I can control all my lighting from it without taking a step. I can set speed lights for manual or TTL.... or a mixture of the two modes. Joey is an excellent teacher but leaves out a lot of modern options for shooting these kinds of photographs
Can someone help me I have no i dea what he is talking about him being and f5.6 and the background has to be at f11. I understand aperture but i dont get what he is talking about.
the light falling on him is at f5.6 on the light meter. That is what you set your camera at. If he wants the background to read f11, you turn off the main light, turn on your background light and adjust it until the light meter reads f11. Now you turn on your mainlight and take your picture at f5.6 and the background will be white. The background is 2 stops brighter than the subject. Subject at f5.6, background at f11, that's 2 stops.
Good video, however I have an issue with the idea that a beaded umbrella will give a softer light than a white umbrella. Not true, the softness of light depends only on the size of the source. The only thing the beading does by scattering the light is lower the reflectivity.
@1hr45min it is not true that shutter speed is irrelevant, unless you have a flash with high speed sync, you will notice that your first and second curtains make the shot partly darker.
Ok think of it this way, forget the 5.6 and f11 he is talking about as that is subjective of whatever lighting ratio you want to achieve in the shot. Lets say you are shooting a model in studio on a white background using one light to illuminate the model and one light to illuminate the background. For my camera ISO 100 is the best to use if you want the best quality image.
Not to nit pick.... but if questions are asked by audience there should be a mic....If you cant hear audience questions.... answers then become meaningless.
At 1:45 another approach would work better.... The strobe throws somewhat 1000 units of light on the subject and about 10 will find their way onto the sensor of the camera. No matter if the shutter is open for 1 minute, 1 second or 1/250. In the meantime the sun constantly throws millions of light units in the background. Shutterspeed allows us to contoll how much of those reflected light we get from the background, but we will allways get just a perfect 10 from the subject.
When shooting indoors and ambient light is insufficient, the shutter speed is moot. You could shoot at 1/60 and its the same as 1/250 as the exposure is determined by the flash duration. Also, the shutter does not move faster at 1/250 than it does at 1/60, the only difference is the delay between front and rear curtain which experience the same mechanical forces in both scenarios..
He says at 1:08:33 that there is a 2:1 ratio, he shot her at F11. He says that technically the background should have been F16. But if that is true, then surely the background will be over-exposed? I can understand if the rim light was F16 to make the highlight, but the background was F16 while she was F11. I cannot understand that.
Larry Brandt I reached out and contacted Joey Quintero, the speaker in the video, and he replied to your question with the following: "Ok?. the model was shot at F11 and in order to get twice the light rim effect. The F-Stop should have been F16 for the background. What we did was drag the Shutter about 1/3 to achieve a little rim from the rear. The 2:1 in this case, technically should have been F11 on the subject and F16 on the background. But, again we dragged the shutter, which controls the ambient light, just about a 1/3 stop. By increasing the Shutter, one can slightly overexposed the background for a rim effect, like the image in the video." - Yossi
B and H So the background was overexposed by 1/3 of a stop instead of a full stop, in order to emphasize that rim light? Thank you for the reply and for contacting Joey Quintero for me!
wrong. open one stop, double the light. open another stop, double the light again, which would be 4x the original light. open a third stop, double the light again, which would be 8x the original. you don't multiply the number of stops by 2 to get the amount of light, you multiply the amount of light by 2 with each additional stop.
Seems like a goo guy but you do not call yourself an "artist". That is for others to choose to call you. It is a compliment and sounds very egotistical to be calling yourself or telling an entire audience that they are all artist when you have never seen their work. Maybe yes, maybe not so much. It's like throwing around "hero" "genius" etc. it or "racist" it dilutes the meaning and dethrones it to a level of meaningless mush. .... but again it sounds like he has started the lecture so ....
Great philosophy, "Don't get too close to your tools." I once had a prof who told us, "Amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light..." I think if you get too obsessed with the kind of camera or equipment you have, you lose touch with your art. In the end it's all about composition, focus and light. I really enjoyed this, Thank You!
Glad you find it useful and thank you for watching.
one of the best lecture's on B&H!
Thanks for the great video on lighting. It was a great refresher course, and reminded me of a few things I have forgotten, and gave me a few new tips also. I can't wait for the next one!
This was so good! Thanks for posting it on the internets!
Excellent Presentation! I learned a lot. Good analogies.
Great tutorial!! I learned a bunch about lighting. Thanks!!
Nice video. Very technical and pointed out a few details that I wasn't aware of.
I wish Joey would repeat the questions. He is very generous in answering all the questions, but it would be very helpful to know what those questions are.
I can't wait for the next installments.
@dgnestico
With opening or closing a full f/number you are doubling or halving the light. From a f/5.6 to f/4 you make the aperture (hole) larger and double the amount of light allowed through the lens. From f/5.6 to f/8 you make the aperture smaller and halved the amount of light is allowed through the lens.
I really, really, really enjoyed your tutorial.
great information cant wait to see the other videos
GREAT Introduction on Lighting & more of revision to me... !!! Keep it up Joey + B&H!!! looking forward for more... :)
an excellent video presentation!!! I loved it!! very intuative many thanks!! looking forward to the next one!!!
Regards
dave
Absolutely fantastic video, well done
Awesome video. Very very very informative.
Great guys!
Is there anyway the internet public can get the pdfs on the class/presentation?
VEEEEEERY GOOD VIDEO!!! Very good to learn the basics of the Studio lighting, post the next class, please.....
Awesome video!!!
Wonderful video. There's a reference website link that Joey mentions along the end of the video but I can't find it anywhere. It is related to fashion photography, can someone who took note of this please share it?
great video!! Please post up more. Thank you!
WOW! VERY VERY AWESOME INFORMATION!!!!!!!! THANKS A TON!
Thanks for posting this. I know people pay good money to be part of this in person and living out in cali the chance to get to NY for a class is slim.
Love if you can mic the audience so we can hear the questions, maybe hang one or 2 omni directional mics from above. Great to always go over the basics.
Really liked the class, thanks Joey for sharing. Looking forward to your upcoming videos. Love to get a copy of your pdf file. Would you please? Thanks.
Is it possible to get the PDF that he mentions? I live in Yukon and hard to get to you guys to attend the events.. but I am so happy that you upload them.. I have seen every single episode, almost as good as being there..
@eunicepeabody
Under normal practice I would recommend adjusting the lights to get the desired F Stop, however, by simply moving the light forward or back a touch (inverse square law: Intermediate Lighting class) will give you the desired F-Stop. Re-meter to verify the F-Stop. Practice this method, you will see how effective this can be for adjusting the lights.
Joey Quintero
Wonderful video.
If an image is shot at 5.6 and the background is lighter than the subject how can the background be 8 which is a smaller stop which would let in less light? I have a feeling it has something to do with metering off of the background using a handheld device but I am only guessing my way through this. Does it get explained somewhere. This is counter intuitive.
you adjust your settings for main subject at f11 in your camera, then meter for your background. If your background is not at the exposure you are wanting, then you adjust the the distance or output of your lighting?
Great video and educational. One suggestion I would like to make is please repeat the question that is asked by the audience. Can't hear the question that is asked. Thanks Jim
Would have liked to hear the questions
Hi, I like this video but, what has shutter speed got to do with the life of the shutter. It is a first curtain second curtain opening size issue. The shutter always has the same speed.
Great class. Would've been nice to hear the questions more clearly, but that's okay; the answers were what mattered.
I've watched and rewatched it. It's terrific.
To increase 1 f-stop is twice as much light as you had previously. So if 2:1 is 1 stop difference, 4:1 is 2 stop difference, then 8:1 is 3 stop difference or 2 to the 3rd power.
@Sean Martin Because 1 Stop of light is equal to twice the light, then 4 Stops equals 8 times the light. Hence 8:1
Thank you for watching.
Sorry guys. Wouldn't that be 3 stops is 8 x light ? (1 stop = 2 x light, 2 stops = 4 x light, 3 stops = 8 x light, 4 stops = 16 x light !)
THANK YOU for this video.
At 42:40 .Why did you opt for F22 rather than F11 and then for 1/250 rather than 1/500 or 1/1000. At F11 everything will be in focus and you will have a faster shutter and a sharper image. Don't you worry about defraction because at F22 there is a chance for that to happen? Another question is that I fix my ISO to 100 for product photography and use a tripod. My F is usually at 8, 9 or 10 and then I will see what the shutter says. Is there a difference in sharpness even if my camera is on a tripod?
Having shared this video with a few photographers and my son who has just started taking photo courses in a local college...it is indeed a great review for me as well as providing inspiration and new ideas! Thanks for providing such outstanding photographic education opportunities to us all!
The video is very interesting! But I'm still kinda glad he made all the long stories short and what not! Easy kill! Boom! Easy - easy - easy. ish
I need the Introduction to the Introduction to Studio Lighting Class...
There is a portrait in the early part of the video shot against a black background. How does this portrait relate to the 2:1 studio ratio? More generally, the black background seems to invert these ratios - making the background the low portion of the ratio and the model, the high portion. i.e 1:2 instead of 2:1.
+Randal Cullen - I am happy to reach out to Joey and ask him, but first, would you be able to roughly cite at what time point in the video the image in question comes up so I can reference it to him? (i.e. 13:30). Thank in advance. - Yossi
Does B&H make and market Impact?
i am into product photography, using 2 strobes to light the subject, how to get the correct exposure without a light meter?
+Burak Akpinar - If you aren’t using a light meter, you’ll need to guesstimate the correct exposure, take a shot, review it on your camera’s LCD (possibly use the histogram), and then adjust the exposure from there. You might start out at ISO 200, f/8, 1/125s and half power on the strobes. Though, this is just a suggestion as a starting point. What strobes you are using/light modifiers, and how far the strobes are from the subject will have critical impact on the exposure. *Christina* AskLighting@bhphoto.com
My only complaint is that I can't hear the questions from the class/audience and he doesn't repeat it before he answers it. It would be nice if there were "closed captioning" for those questions. :) Otherwise this was HUGELY helpful! It was absolutely worth the full 2 hours, I learned SO much!
it's an intro to studio lighting so of course some of the questions are very basic. I thought he did a very good job on his presentation and explanations
Are the next parts on YT available? Or know some one a great tutorials about studio lighting?
Here's Joey Quintero's follow-up to that presentation: Intermediate Lighting for Portraiture. Thanks for watching! Intermediate Lighting for Portraiture
Thank You for your answer, your videos are very helpful!!
I set my key TTL then just set the exposure comp on the rim and background lights. Occasionally I will use manual on the background... but not always. I do not own a light meter. Like Joey said "I am old-school". TTL is the future. Another way to look at it is .. I use the light meter in the camera to measure for me through the lens. Honestly I can shoot either way.... manual or TTL flash both work for me, however, TTL will automatically set my exposure. TTL is fastest I believe. No metering.. no adjusting lights and aperture... all automatic using todays TTL flash technology. I have a flash controller on top of my camera... I can control all my lighting from it without taking a step. I can set speed lights for manual or TTL.... or a mixture of the two modes. Joey is an excellent teacher but leaves out a lot of modern options for shooting these kinds of photographs
Great lecture with the "make a long story short" guy
Just a question about early in the video...he says an 8:1 ratio is 4 stops but wouldn't it be 3 stops?
Is it just me, or does he look like Joseph Gordon Levitt?
GREAT VIDEO! Very helpful! Thanks!
Wow very impressive how he folded the reflector at 38:50 lol 😂
I don’t see his “ratios”. What am I missing?
Super!
Can someone help me I have no i dea what he is talking about him being and f5.6 and the background has to be at f11. I understand aperture but i dont get what he is talking about.
the light falling on him is at f5.6 on the light meter. That is what you set your camera at. If he wants the background to read f11, you turn off the main light, turn on your background light and adjust it until the light meter reads f11. Now you turn on your mainlight and take your picture at f5.6 and the background will be white. The background is 2 stops brighter than the subject. Subject at f5.6, background at f11, that's 2 stops.
Correct, so all of the references to 4 stops = 8x light are incorrect in the slides. They should say 3 stops = 8x
Good video, however I have an issue with the idea that a beaded umbrella will give a softer light than a white umbrella. Not true, the softness of light depends only on the size of the source. The only thing the beading does by scattering the light is lower the reflectivity.
@1hr45min it is not true that shutter speed is irrelevant, unless you have a flash with high speed sync, you will notice that your first and second curtains make the shot partly darker.
make a long story short.......GREAT VIDEO! thanks :)
@Elias Lopez The website address is bwgreyscale(dot)com.
Ok think of it this way, forget the 5.6 and f11 he is talking about as that is subjective of whatever lighting ratio you want to achieve in the shot. Lets say you are shooting a model in studio on a white background using one light to illuminate the model and one light to illuminate the background. For my camera ISO 100 is the best to use if you want the best quality image.
its 2 x 2 x 2 = 8 = 2^3. Each stop is an index of 2 so 8x the light would be 3 stops. You might be confused because 2x2 is also equal to 2+2...
Not to nit pick.... but if questions are asked by audience there should be a mic....If you cant hear audience questions.... answers then become meaningless.
At 1:45 another approach would work better....
The strobe throws somewhat 1000 units of light on the subject and about 10 will find their way onto the sensor of the camera. No matter if the shutter is open for 1 minute, 1 second or 1/250. In the meantime the sun constantly throws millions of light units in the background. Shutterspeed allows us to contoll how much of those reflected light we get from the background, but we will allways get just a perfect 10 from the subject.
Making a long story short and whatnot
how to fold a large reflector @ 0:38:44
"Long story short.... what-not." Hahah. Great video though. I learned a lot.
Nice video, wish you had repeated the questions from the audience though, since we can't hear the questions, only answers.
very good teacher.This is very useful video to learn about light...
THanks!
REUBEN MAHARJAN
33:00 omg haha
When shooting indoors and ambient light is insufficient, the shutter speed is moot. You could shoot at 1/60 and its the same as 1/250 as the exposure is determined by the flash duration. Also, the shutter does not move faster at 1/250 than it does at 1/60, the only difference is the delay between front and rear curtain which experience the same mechanical forces in both scenarios..
He says at 1:08:33 that there is a 2:1 ratio, he shot her at F11. He says that technically the background should have been F16. But if that is true, then surely the background will be over-exposed? I can understand if the rim light was F16 to make the highlight, but the background was F16 while she was F11. I cannot understand that.
Larry Brandt I reached out and contacted Joey Quintero, the speaker in the video, and he replied to your question with the following:
"Ok?. the model was shot at F11 and in order to get twice the light rim effect. The F-Stop should
have been F16 for the background. What we did was drag the Shutter about 1/3 to achieve
a little rim from the rear. The 2:1 in this case, technically should have been F11 on the subject and
F16 on the background. But, again we dragged the shutter, which controls the ambient light, just
about a 1/3 stop.
By increasing the Shutter, one can slightly overexposed the background for a rim effect, like the image
in the video." - Yossi
B and H So the background was overexposed by 1/3 of a stop instead of a full stop, in order to emphasize that rim light? Thank you for the reply and for contacting Joey Quintero for me!
If each stop is a square, then 4 stops would be 2*2*2*2 = 16
too bad no microphone was used for the questions… Great class, but I wish we could hear the audience questions.
Audience Mic Please!!!
they could ve given the attendees a microphn..smh
you can barely hear the voices..
Starts at 7'0"
& WHAT - NOT!
and 4+4=8
wrong. open one stop, double the light. open another stop, double the light again, which would be 4x the original light. open a third stop, double the light again, which would be 8x the original. you don't multiply the number of stops by 2 to get the amount of light, you multiply the amount of light by 2 with each additional stop.
Excellent class. But terrible camera work.
This is no "Introduction"
One of the worst videos of the series, too many stupid questions :) He is very good though!
Seems like a goo guy but you do not call yourself an "artist". That is for others to choose to call you. It is a compliment and sounds very egotistical to be calling yourself or telling an entire audience that they are all artist when you have never seen their work. Maybe yes, maybe not so much. It's like throwing around "hero" "genius" etc. it or "racist" it dilutes the meaning and dethrones it to a level of meaningless mush.
.... but again it sounds like he has started the lecture so ....
ty good sir; i seem to agree with you in your observation.