Photography for the Lighting Designer Lighting designers not only have the challenge of creating emotion, space, motion, and a pretty image but we also have the challenge of selling our services to the client. For many clients it is hard for them to grasp the concept of why they should pay you to design their lighting when the electrician can put up some lights and it will look good. We, as designers need a way to show potential clients what our quality of work is and what our individual style can bring to their projects. How do we do this in an effective way? One answer is through photography. Most lighting designers, although very capable of visualizing light and its effect on its surroundings have no idea how to capture this to film or a digital medium. To help you understand how to effectively capture your work in an image we must first discuss the equipment needed to do such a thing. Cameras There are four main types of cameras available on the market. These cameras are: Point and Shoot, SLR, Medium Format, and Large Format. There are also two main types of media: Film and Digital. Point and Shoot o Just about everyone has had one of these cameras at some point, there are no special attachments and pretty much everything is automatic. Some point and shoot camera have a zoom feature and some simply have a fixed lens. Although these cameras have only the simplest of features, good images can be created using a point and shoot. Another good aspect of the point and shoot camera is that it is extremely affordable, in fact many quality point and shoot cameras can be bought for under $200. The down side of the point and shoot is that when you are looking thru the viewfinder you are not actually looking thru the lens. On many cheaper cameras the alignment may not be quite perfect which means that your final photo may not be exactly what you were seeing thru the viewfinder. SLR o SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. One of the greatest features of the SLR camera is that when you look thru the viewfinder you are actually looking thru the lens (bounced off a set of mirrors). What this means for you is that what you see, is what you get (in terms of composition). Another major feature of the SLR camera is the ability to change the size of the lens you are using. If you want a telephoto lens or a wide angle no problem. Most modern SLR cameras also have fully automatic settings, so if you aren t very technically inclined you can pretty much just point and shoot. If, however, you want to really fine tune the image then the SLR will allow you to adjust how long the shutter is open (shutter speed) and how much of the image is in focus (aperture). This camera is what I recommend for anyone that wants to have a very versatile camera and be able to take great images. These cameras range from about $100-$1600
Medium Format & Large Format o I am not going to talk to long about Medium or Large Format cameras for 2 simple reasons: they are very big and VERY expensive. Basically these cameras use a medium (3 x5 ) or large (8 x10 ) negative instead of the standard 35mm negative. Because of this they can produce very detailed images that can be blown up to enormous sizes. A good analogy is to think of the negative like a computer hard drive. A small 35kB hard drive can t store very much detailed information because there just isn t enough space, but take a huge 700GB hard drive and you can store a very large detailed file on it. Photographers like Ansel Adams used medium and large format cameras. Film o I am sure you pretty much already understand the concept of film, but as a brief recap: Film is a flexible plastic base that is coated with a light sensitive emulsion. When light strikes the film it changes the chemical structure of the emulsion which creates a latent image that after being put thru the chemical process of developing produces a negative image in the emulsion. This negative image must then be processed onto a light sensitive paper to produce the positive image we all have in our scrapbooks at home. o One of the most important things to remember about using film for lighting photography is that film is designed to be used with a particular color temperature of light. It is sold in 2 main color temps: daylight and tungsten. As you probably guessed daylight is for use in high color temperature light (i.e. daylight) and tungsten is designed for use with lower color temperatures (i.e. tungsten halogen). If you buy the wrong film don t worry, you can always use a color correction filter attached to your lens, or you can even use a sheet of color correction gel held up in front of the lens. o Film is sold in various speeds. These speed (ISO) numbers represent the amount of light it takes to correctly expose the film. The lower the speed number, the brighter the light must be (or the longer the exposure time).a film speed of 100 ISO would work great in bright daylight and a speed of 1600 ISO (or even 3200 ISO) would work well for dark nighttime shots of lighting. One thing to bear in mind is that the higher the ISO number, the more grainy the film. So in low light applications sometimes it is better to use a lower ISO number film and make a longer exposure time to compensate. Digital o Digital photography has changed the way we take photos. No longer do you have to worry about what speed the film in your camera is, or what to do with the bad shots on the roll. A lot of high end digital SLR cameras will allow you to set the film speed for each shot. This allows the photographer to pretend they are using film to decrease the learning curve. Digital will allow you to go to a job site and shoot hundreds of shots. I once had a pro photographer tell me, the only difference between a professional and amateur photographer is that the amateur
will see something and take one photo, the professional will see the same thing and take 50. This brings me to the best tip I can give you..take AS MANY PICTURES AS YOU CAN! The more images you take, the better your odds of getting one really great one. That is where digital really shines. With film it would cost you about $100-$150 to shoot 200 images, of which you may have 5 good ones. With digital it costs nothing for the images you don t want you just delete them. The down side of digital is which one? There are 2 megapixel, 3 megapixel, 8 megapixel, etc how many do you need. Here is some help with this decision (courtesy of www.basic-digital-photography.com) o 1 megapixel or less: Cameras in this range (e.g. web cameras or cell phone cameras) have very low image resolution. Don't expect to be able to print highquality photos using these cameras. You can, however, email the photos or post them on your web site. The good thing about such cameras, of course, is their low price. o 1 to 2 megapixels: Cameras in this range are pretty decent - you can expect to print out descent 4x6 prints at this resolution. Of course, if you want larger prints, then I would certainly recommend getting more megapixels. Cameras in this range should sell for around $100 currently. o 3 to 4 megapixels: Most new point-and-shoot cameras these days tend to have at least 3 to 4 megapixel image resolution. Bring these images to the lab and they'll be able to develop good looking 4x6, 5x7 and even 6x9 printouts. Expect to pay slightly more though - we're looking at around $250 for a good model. o 5 megapixels and up: The more advanced cameras tend to have image resolutions of 5 to 8 megapixels. Newer point-and-shoot cameras have 5 megapixels, while the newer digital SLRs come with 8 megapixels. The quality of images shot by these cameras is simply stunning. Of course, their price tags are equally stunning. In this megapixel category, expect to pay around $300 for a 5 megapixel camera and up to $1800 for an 8 megapixel SLR. Other Equipment Now that you have chosen what camera you want to use you WILL need to get a good tripod. Shots of lighting are going to require fairly long exposure times and without a tripod your images are going to be blurry. Generally a good rule of thumb is this: any shutter speed slower than 1/60 of a second can not be hand held and for many people you should only hand hold shots faster than 1/100 of a second.
Composition Okay, so you have your lighting design and it looks great, you have your camera and accessories so now what? You need to think about the image composition. The first question you should ask yourself is: what is the main focus of this image? After determining the subject of your image you need place it within the image in a dramatic and interesting way. o One tried and true rule is the Rule of Thirds this rule requires you to divide your viewfinder into 3 equal segments horizontally AND vertically. Your important subjects should fall on the intersection lines of these segments. o You can see in the example image that the musician lines up directly on one of the intersections. o This same example (above) also illustrates another excellent compositional tool: Diagonals. Placing key elements in your image to create a diagonal shape from one corner of your image to the other is very pleasing to the eye. It allows the viewers eye to travel through the photo and helps them explore the image in a comfortable way. o Another useful tool is framing. This may be more difficult to use when dealing with architecture, but you can try to frame your subject within another object. Shoot the subject thru an arch, or thru an open window, and maybe below a canopy of trees. Giving your subject a frame gives your viewer s eye another excuse to move throughout the image as it creates interesting layers and depth. o Use depth of field to your advantage. What is depth of field? Depth of Field is simply the amount of the image that is in focus vs. what is blurry. I will explain how to do this on your camera in a bit, but for now think about the many professional images you have seen where the subject is in focus and the background is fuzzy. That is shallow depth of field and it can really make your images look like a pro took them. Shallow depth of field helps eliminate distracting background items and is just generally pleasing to look at. If your camera doesn t allow you to change its settings don t worry, you can blur out the background in Photoshop. Sometimes, however, you will want to use deep depth of field to make everything in focus. If you lit a long hallway for example, you
might want to show off the entire thing and you would need a deep depth of field to accomplish this. o Find an unusual vantage point. It always amazes me when I see a photo of an object in a new way. A sculpture you have seen every day for years can come alive when shot from above or from the ground especially when it is lit dramatically. You can also use this technique in order to hide unsightly objects. I have taken shots of buildings almost lying down on the ground in order to make a parking lot disappear. Refer to the example I used for depth of field (above). This was shot sitting on the floor shooting up at a 60 degree angle. This not only eliminated the people sitting in front of the candles but it also made the image much more interesting. o Don t forget that you can turn the camera sideways! Most of your photos are probably in landscape format (horizontal) but have you ever noticed that most magazine images are shot vertically? The reason for this is that vertical images tend to have greater emotional impact. It gives a completely different feeling to your images, so give it a try. Of course some shots are better in landscape, but many are not so don t be afraid to experiment. Also, if you are shooting a tall high rise building, don t be afraid to shoot it horizontally as well as vertically. Be creative and have fun with it. o Fill the frame with your subject. I have seen so many images that are just so-so and it s mostly because there is just too much blank space around the subject. Shots of artwork, portraits, and detail shots are some things right away that I can think of that should almost always fill the frame.
o When shooting large objects such as buildings it is a good idea to present another object in the frame to give a sense of scale. How will the viewers have a way to tell that the structure is 100 tall unless they have a reference point such as a person in the frame. o Repetition. Patterns and repetition are very visually stimulating. You can even allow the image to have a shallow depth of field so that the pattern fades from being sharp to blurry. o Sometimes you will have to wait for an image. (yes even if you are shooting the lighting) Some lighting looks great when photographed in the dark of night when the sky is black, but don t forget about the golden hour when the sun is setting and the natural light is soft. At this time the sky is blue or purple and your lights are on and able to be seen. I realize that your main concern is your lighting but bear in mind how the surrounding light will look in that image. A good idea would be to arrive at your photo site around 4pm-5pm (during the summer) and start shooting until after dark. All of these techniques take practice, but when you are starting out take your time and allow your eye to explore ALL parts of your viewfinder before snapping the photo.
Using your Camera Now that you know how to compose a shot you need to know how to take it. I will start with the main settings dial which is usually on the top left of the camera. I shoot with a Canon camera so that is what I will be talking about, but other manufacturers have similar features. The Canon has several automatic modes. First there are some modes that have little pictures next to them one looks like a face, a mountain, a flower, and maybe a runner. These are fully auto modes for specific things. Face Portraits Mountain Landscapes Flower Close ups/detail Runner Sports/Action Shots I don t usually recommend using these, especially for lighting shots. Some cameras also have a night mode which works okay, but again I don t recommend it overall. Next you have a mode that has a P next to it. This P stands for Program Mode. This is fully automatic. If you don t want to make any of your own adjustments to the camera when shooting, this is what you should use. Basically the camera will do whatever it needs to do in order to properly expose your image. This mode works very well for many situations but the downside is the lack of control. Next is a mode marked Av. Av mode is also called Aperture Priority and this is what I shoot with almost exclusively. What this does is allow you to tell the camera how much light you want to come thru the lens (the aperture) and the camera automatically determines the shutter speed. It is a sort of a semi-auto mode. You may recall me mentioning depth of field that is what your aperture controls. The aperture is controlled by an iris within the lend and is measured in F-Stops that range from around F1.4 to about F22. THE SMALLER THE NUMER, THE BIGGER THE APERATURE OPENING INTO THE CAMERA (MORE LIGHT TO THE FILM). I put that in bold because it is VERY important. There are 2 reasons for that.1) THE SMALLER THE APERATURE (bigger F#) THE GREATER YOUR DEPTH OF FIELD and 2) the larger the aperture opening, the shorter the shutter speed. So..F1.8 at 1/1500sec = F22 at 1/8sec. Why should you care about this? If you are shooting a stationary object and want the background to be in focus I could put it at F22 1/8sec. and it would not be a problem, but if the object were moving and I did the same thing, 1/8sec. would be too slow to stop the action and give you a freeze frame. You are mainly going to be shooting architecture so just remember bigger F#=sharper background, smaller F#=blurry background. Most SLR cameras have a depth of field preview button on the side of the camera next to the lens so that you can actually see what is blurry or not. Next is a mode marked Tv. This mode is just like Av except that it allows you to set the shutter speed and the camera figures out the aperture automatically. Lastly is a mode marked M. This mode is all manual. You have to set the aperture; and you have to set the shutter speed. Until you get some practice I suggest you leave this mode alone for a while.
Armed with the information I just gave you I strongly suggest you go start shooting pictures. The subject matter really isn t important, you just want to practice, practice, practice. The more you shoot, the better the images of your designs will be. I hope you found this information valuable.good luck and happy shooting!