Intermediate Lighting for Portraiture Photography

Lighting  •  Photography Tips  •  Portrait Photography

Here is a chance to learn to some principles of lighting for portraiture and beauty from former teacher Joey Quintero who is employed at Impact Studio Lighting. Plus, the hour and half long lesson is totally free of charge. During the course, Quintero will teach viewers about an assortment of lighting modifiers and their practical applications in addition to the more technical side of lighting which deals with lighting ratios, color wheeels, and more. To make things easier for you, you can watch the entire lesson right here:

Here’s a quick reference chart to the lighting ratios, or, in other words, the difference between the quality of light that is on your background versus the subject:

• A 1:1 lighting ratio has no f-stop difference and is used primarily for flat lighting.
• A 2:1 has a 1 stop difference, meaning the background is lit one stop brighter than the subject and is a general slide film ratio.
• A 3:1 ratio has about an 1 1/3 stop difference which is commonly used in black and white photography
• A 4:1  ratio provides a 2 stop difference and is used when to enhance shadowing and contouring.
• Finally, a 8:1 ratio has a 4 stop difference which makes for a low key lighting setup.

“You need to start thinking in f-stops. You need to understand that light is thinking in f-stops. You need to correspond that the light you see on me here and the light outdoors and understand that, yes, there is a ratio difference between the light qualities of them. Exposing a f/2.8 aperture and exposing a f/16 are two different monsters, they are two different lights.”