As photographers, we know that lighting is key for a successful image. Although, just like everything else in photography, time and patience is required when first starting to learn how to manipulate light in order to achieve a certain look. The best thing that a student of photography can do is to study lighting schemes used by others. How will you go about doing this you ask: welcome to Strobox.com!
Strobox.com is a website that
is dedicated to sharing information related to lighting, exposure and
how one can get "the" shot. In short, photographers from around the
globe can submit an amazing photo that s/he took along with his/her
lighting scheme diagram and exposure information used to take that
photo.
Let's say, for example, that you're interested in concocting a lighting scheme for a "Fashion Shoot" on a location. You may ask yourself, what type of tools will I need to complete this? How will I set up the lights or accessories? Select Fashion under the "Category" section - as opposed to Action, Commercial, Food, etc... and then select the type of light you'll use under the "Light" section. Given taht you'll be shooting on location verses in a studio, you'll definitely want to select Natural Lighting with any additional tools you want to use, say a reflector or a strobe kit. Once you hit "Search", Strobox.com will generate many different examples. It's up to you to browse through these examples to learn about different options.
In the example above, we can see that the photographer was using natural light, a strobe and a hair light. The flower that you see in the lighting scheme represents the tree. Notice how this diagram also lists the shutter speed, aperture and ISO as well as the type of camera that the photographer was shooting with.
The key thing to remember about Strobox.com is that the information listed within the scheme and exposure sections should be used as a guide. It's always a good idea use your handheld light meter, take exposure measurements for yourself and adjust the lights accordingly in order to capture the shot you want.
Regardless of the genre or type of lighting you're interested in, Strobox.com has it all! There is also a section on their website that has multiple video tutorials - and naturally, there's an app for Strobox.com too! The app allows photographers to create his/her own lighting schemes... although, if you're at your computer, you can use Strobox.com's "Create" section of their site to do the same thing.
The key thing to remember about Strobox.com is that the information listed within the scheme and exposure sections should be used as a guide. It's always a good idea use your handheld light meter, take exposure measurements for yourself and adjust the lights accordingly in order to capture the shot you want.
Regardless of the genre or type of lighting you're interested in, Strobox.com has it all! There is also a section on their website that has multiple video tutorials - and naturally, there's an app for Strobox.com too! The app allows photographers to create his/her own lighting schemes... although, if you're at your computer, you can use Strobox.com's "Create" section of their site to do the same thing.
____________________________________________________________________________
01. "Welcome to Strobox - Create, Share, Learn." Strobox - Create, Share, Learn. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
01. "Welcome to Strobox - Create, Share, Learn." Strobox - Create, Share, Learn. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.