8
votes
Why is my histogram missing the mid tones?
There is no such thing as a "good" or "correct" histogram... the shape and placement of the histogram should reflect the subject/scene recorded. E.g. that histogram looks about right for a picture of ...
- 17.2k
7
votes
Accepted
How unusual would contact-printing be for a portrait studio's commercial output?
It wasn't at all unusual for small, local portrait studios to print using the direct contact method during the time in which Disfarmer worked from about 1915 until his death in 1959. Most small ...
- 175k
6
votes
18% gray paint manufacturers
The standard gray card is 18% gray. Take a sample gray card with you to the paint store and have them custom mix. The reflection readings are:
0.75 red 0.75 green 0.75 blue 0.75 via the yellow visual ...
- 39.2k
6
votes
Accepted
What ambient lighting is appropriate for a room where photos are edited and proofed/printed?
You don't need a dimmer bulb, you just need to disperse it properly so that it is more evenly distributed throughout the room. Rather than placing the bulb where it is shining directly on your monitor,...
- 175k
6
votes
What color should I use for the walls and ceiling of a photography studio?
Neutral, usually black or white depending your needs.
Assuming that your backdrop will be separate (paper roll).
White:
Walls can be used as reflectors. But, can be difficult to control stray ...
- 1,234
6
votes
Accepted
Can tethered shooting be dangerous to my camera?
I wouldn't worry about it.
From my experience, power surges are not something you need to worry about with USB devices. If a power surge happens, it will most likely be from the power grid which is ...
- 555
5
votes
Accepted
Why use larger format cameras for studio photography?
Historically, product photos were taken with large format cameras so that perspective distortions could be corrected by bending the film plane with respect to the image plane. Nowadays we can easily ...
- 809
5
votes
Why use larger format cameras for studio photography?
Some reasons:
1) Sharpness.
2) Size... If you have a 80Mpx image you need point 1 first.
3) Dynamic range
improved dynamic range seems unimportant using controlled lighting
Seems unimportant...,...
- 24.8k
5
votes
Accepted
Underexposed Images using Studio flash
I don't understand why the 2nd image wouldn't be correctly exposed as the Speedlight fires normally (this is what triggers the 2 x Studio lights), even if the studio lights were having no effect!
...
- 31.7k
5
votes
How can I keep light from reaching the background in low key photography?
Low key photography is about using less light than you would usually do to correctly expose a shot and thus creating a darker image.
Low key photography can be done outside of a studio(and you can ...
- 577
5
votes
How can I keep light from reaching the background in low key photography?
Lighting in photography is about ratios, not intensity. You can pretty much expose anything to make it low key but I understand that what you want is to have a darker background than your subject.
...
- 103k
4
votes
What kind of a stand setup is this?
This is a "tent" lighting setup. The idea is to place above the subject a diffuser. Lamps are aimed so as to evenly illuminate the diffuser. Such a successful lash-up delivers highly diffused light to ...
- 39.2k
4
votes
Are these cheap studio continuous lighting kits good for beginners?
Those types of continuous lighting sets work, but aren't great as beginner gear for portrait photography, simply because they lack much power/light output, and the more you have, the bigger the ...
- 52.1k
4
votes
How can I keep light from reaching the background in low key photography?
Make sure that the light of your strobe doesn't reach you background
There are several ways to achieve a dark background. When you look at them are pretty obvious. Each light on my diagram is just an ...
- 24.8k
4
votes
How do you reproduce this lighting setup
With either a bright constant light or a flash set behind and to the left of the chairs. Imagine a line connecting one of the corners of the shadow of one of the chairs with its corresponding physical ...
- 5,138
4
votes
How do you reproduce this lighting setup
I have the feeling those are not photos, but 3D renders. There are several clues for that.
The light looks like it is almost parallel so it is very far, almost like sunlight. (I marked several pairs ...
- 24.8k
4
votes
Why should you leave 2 ft from the ceiling for studio lights?
I can think of two reasons to keep some distance between studio lights and a ceiling:
Reflection, if the studio lights have so much spread that the light reflects against the ceiling, this can cause ...
- 818
4
votes
Why is my histogram missing the mid tones?
The most obvious answer is because everything in the scene is either very dark or very light, with not many mid-tones for your camera to capture.
Especially when using flash in a dark environment (...
- 175k
4
votes
Accepted
Which of these lenses to choose for a studio project?
There's really never an objective "best" choice, it all depends on what you're attempting to accomplish.
My goal is to achieve the sharpest and most detailed images possible, likely ...
- 52.1k
3
votes
How can I keep light from reaching the background in low key photography?
It was already explained that the intensity of the light arriving on a surface falls off in intensity with distance. This is explained by what is called the “Law of the Inverse Square”. In practical ...
- 39.2k
3
votes
Beauty Dish revisited - Good for "bad" skin?
Your diagram definitely supports your observations.
Although not currently using one, and taking your diagram into consideration, having used beauty dishes in the past, this is what I found;
(most ...
- 4,927
2
votes
What ambient lighting is appropriate for a room where photos are edited and proofed/printed?
First of all the walls.
Paint the walls in white. You can use a light neutral gray, but it could be not neutral, cool or warm, so you do not want that.
Use the same temperature as your base monitor'...
- 24.8k
2
votes
Accepted
How would I dim CFL studio lights?
How can I dim these, either in steps (25%, 50%, 75% etc.) or continuously (like a dimmer)?
Absent the option to adjust the intensity of the bulbs themselve you have less than a handful of options:
...
- 175k
2
votes
Why use larger format cameras for studio photography?
The larger chip is, the higher resolution for given pixel density is, or for given resolution larger (=more accurate) pixels are.
In studio YOU rule the light and you have plenty of time to wait for ...
- 1,808
2
votes
Why use larger format cameras for studio photography?
The K-30 is a 16M pixel body. Looking at some premium stock sites (ie they pay a decent amount) that is the bare minimum resolution they demand.
If you think in terms of printing, commercial printers ...
- 241
2
votes
Accepted
If my main studio strobe is on HSS, all of the other strobes need to be as well, correct?
It depends on how you're lighting, and where/how the shutter is going to block the non-HSS flashes, but for the most part yes, you'll need HSS-capable hair/fill if you plan on having a completely HSS ...
- 52.1k
2
votes
If my main studio strobe is on HSS, all of the other strobes need to be as well, correct?
Yes and no. You could use a white or silver reflector and you do not need an additional flash. But if you want to keep making HSS photos (normally that is for outdoor photography) yes, you need the ...
- 24.8k
2
votes
How do you reproduce this lighting setup
@Rafael @twalberg @WayneF Thank you very much for your help.
I'd say these are nicely done renders then (:, as there are even few scratches visibile in the shadow of the single chair shot..
I'm ...
- 63
2
votes
What color should I use for the walls and ceiling of a photography studio?
Depending upon how you plan to use it:
Flat black that reflects as little light as possible
Neutral¹ white that reflects a significant amount of light
Any neutral¹ shade of gray between the two ...
- 175k
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