In order to create masterful portraits like the professional photographers you need light. You don’t necessarily need professional lighting equipment, but you do need to be able to manipulate and control lighting situations. There are numerous ways to create portrait lighting so we’ll start with a photography lighting equipment rundown. In the following articles we’ll discuss lighting techniques in further detail so it’s only natural that we all have an understanding of the lighting equipment options. Before reading this article it would be a good idea to review Lighting Techniques: An Introduction.

Light meter

I’m willing to bet that most newer digital photographers don’t have one of these. A light meter will help you obtain the proper exposure to use by determining which f-number and shutter speed with your ISO settings. I use a light meter when composing portraits because I was classically trained with film. Nowadays most cameras have built in spot meters that use TTL metering systems that do provide accurate results. If you’re camera doesn’t have a built in spot meter I highly suggest getting a good light meter. In fact, I recommend getting one anyway, because you have much more information that you can garner by metering specific areas of your subject.

Reflector

Reflectors do exactly as they sound. They reflect light. Professional reflectors come in a barrage of sizes and can widely range in price. Typically you’ll find a reflector utilizes both sides by giving you a shiny surface or a white surface. The white surface is great for portraits because it creates a softer more flattering light source, while the shiny side will reflect more light giving you maximum output. Some reflectors will have either a gold side or a silver side opposite the white side. Silver will reflect “truer” light while the gold will produce “warmer” light.

External Flash

An external flash will provide more range, control, and direction. A “dedicated” flash is made to work with your specific camera make and model. There are third party manufacturers which provide cheaper alternatives but be advised that you do need to check that the flash will work properly with your specific camera. You can mount an external flash to your camera via the hot-shoe. External flashes give you much more control by providing you with power levels. They tilt for “bounce” flash use and some can even swivel for greater direction. IMPORTANT NOTE: Older external flash units may damage your digital SLR. They use a different voltage which can fry your camera! Some adapters are available so an older flash can safely be used but first contact the manufacturer to make sure. If you have any doubts about the compatibility do not use an older flash unit mounted to a newer camera period.

Slave Flash

A slave flash is designed to use “off camera”. Simply meaning that it does not have to be mounted to your camera to fire. This is typically done via a “trigger flash”. Any flash fired will trigger a slave flash as long as the slave flash can “see” the original flash. Most slave flashes have power levels for more control and swivels to ensure your flashes read each other.

Studio light kits offer the most control but are also the most costly. The kits range in size, price, reliability, portability, and more. There are two starting points when determining which studio kit is for you. It’s somewhat important to look into kits as opposed to buying studio lighting piece by piece because they come with necessary accessories like stands, umbrellas, soft-boxes, etc.

Continuous Lights

Also known as “hot lights” are studio lights that are always on. In the past continuous lighting setups were costly for photographers, uncomfortable for models and impractical for beginning portrait photographers. Utilizing tungsten or halogen lights used lot’s of energy and created much heat. There is a new breed of continuous lighting options out there now that use Daylight Balanced Florescent Lights. These are much less expensive and do not put out nearly as much heat. This is the setup most professional fashion photographers are going to use. The benefit is that the light that you see is the light that you get. There is no flash.

Strobe Lights

The setup that most professional portrait photographers use is the strobe light. The strobe light will flash when triggered by either a trigger flash hitting the slave sensor or via a remote control that comes with the kit. Because strobe lights use flash to produce light instead of continuous lighting, it is important to look into a strobe set that does feature modeling lights. The modeling lights will enable you to see where the light is hitting your subject. Some lights have “static” modeling lights while others have modeling lights that adjust to the power of the flash bulb. Choose wisely. There are two different types of strobe light set ups.

• Pack and Head

The pack and head comes with light “heads” that plug into the power “pack”. The power pack will enable you to control the intensity or light output of each head that is plugged into the power pack.

• Mono-lights

Mono-lights contain a power source built into the light head that allows the lights to work without a power pack. They are heavier and bulkier with most having controls to vary the light output.

Umbrella

A light umbrella looks just like a rain umbrella. They are attached to studio lights in such a way that the lights point at the umbrella. The umbrella’s usually have a black material on the outside with varying reflective materials on the inside. The light hits the umbrella then “bounces” out towards your subject. This spreads the light creating non-directional lighting that is more flattering than direct or “harsh” light.

Soft Box

A soft box works similarly to an umbrella in that the light is spread to create a softer more flattering light. The difference is that the light head shoots through the soft box’s translucent material. It is usually covered in black material on the outside, with reflective material lining the inside. Soft boxes come in varying shapes and sizes and are more expensive than umbrellas.

Radio Slaves

Radio slaves will allow you to trigger your lights without the use of sync chords which is good. Sync chords can become unreliable with wear and can create opportunity to damage your camera through high sync voltage. Having a radio slave really stands out when you’re having trouble getting your lights to trigger throughout the flash slave sensors.

There are many other accessories that portrait photographers use to get their desired results such as grids, barn doors, gel lights, and such. These are usually inexpensive and are sometimes bundled with light kits. They can add dramatic flair and offer more options but aren’t necessary to produce professional quality portraits.

Photograph Alessandra by il goldcat

Is there any other lighting equipment you use for studio portraits that I didn’t include?

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