As section "manager" I suppose I have to set some rules. The regular forum rules will apply. As for specific rules. well- I want this to be a good resource and I want everyone who is interested in participating to enjoy it and have fun. So, my basic rule is "PLAY NICE" no yellin', screamin' hollerin' cussin' and/or fightin'- please refer those to the main section or the Attic! Any grumpy post will be deleted. Here, we are allowed to mess around with each other's work to illustrate points. We can show how to burn or dodge a blown highlight or vacant shadow or draw lines and arrows to point things out. When you post a masterpiece and do not want it messed with, just write DO NOT EDIT and your wishes will be respected.

Now let's get downn to the real RULES. The "rules" of lighting. Most folks, especially those with artistic temperaments, hate rules. Some folks who have no artistic temperament hate them anyway! So, if I post a tutorial I am gonna mention some "rules" but these are not necessarily laws that can or should not be purposely broken, revised, or ignored. So, the diagrams and accompanying dos and don'ts are simply guidelines. There are certain physical and geometric laws that stick- we can't do much about them. For instance, last time I looked, we only have one SUN*, so on a bright sunny day, at various times of day, the light will come from only ONE direction. If you are a light purest, if somehow you see light on any subject, in a photograph, coming for multiple directions you may get disunity of lighting that seems unnatural. That can happen if your flash fill is off-camera and too strong if somehow you have 2 main lights, coming in from opposite directions, in a studio setup, or if you use a reflector fill out of doors and it is too close, shiny or strong. Sometimes, however, so-called kicker lights striking the subject from multiple directions can be a dramatic or theatrical effect in portraiture or certain kids of still life work.

*Please take my word for it- don't go looking at the sun or for another one, you can damage your eyes!

The LAWS that you need to master and keep in mind are the Inverse Square Law and the Principles of Angle of Incidence. The inverse square law is all about ligh falloff. We don't need to worry about the sun because it's 93-million miles away and it kida stays there (hopefully). When we set up lights, however, there is a matter of distance. The inverse square law can be your enemy and give you lousy on-camera flash results unless you know how to work around that, or it can be your friend because in, certain cases, light falloff is a cool tool.

ANGLE OF INCIDENCE theory, once you grasp it, gives you full control over your lighting. It is far from "rocket science". Light strikes people and/or stuff reflects off the people and/or stuff, and ends up in your camera. A lighting diagram can show you the geometry but you don't need to shoot carrying around a protractor and measuring out angles. Your in-camera TTL system or hand-held exposure meter can quantify light but your best "angle of incidents meters" are your eyeballs. There is a long list of elements that are effected and affected by the angle of incidence. One interesting example is you can have burned-out highlights on an otherwise perfectly exposed file caused simply by the angle the light was placed in relation to the camera and subject positions. A light placed at the same distance and set at the same power can create 2 different APERANT highlight densities when placed at different angles of incidence. Knowing this theory will also assist you in shooting anything from a black prune to a high polished metal chrome-plated object with perfect results. Stand by, good things are in store!

As section "manager" I suppose I have to set some rules. The regular forum rules will apply. As for specific rules. well- I want to be a good resource and I want everyone who is interested in participating to enjoy it and have fun. So, my basic rule is "PLAY NICE" no yellin', screamin' hollerin' cussin' and/or fightin'- please refer those to the main section or the Attic! Any grumpy post will be deleted. Here we are allowed to mess around with each other's work to illustrate points. We can show how to burn or dodge a blown highlight or vacant shadow or draw lines and arrows to point things out. When you post a masterpiece and do not want it messed with, just write DO NOT EDIT and your wishes will be respected.

Now let's get downn to the real RULES. The "rules" of lighting. Most folks, especially those with artistic temperaments, hate rules. Some folks who have no artistic temperament hate them anyway! So, if I post a tutorial I am gonna mention some "rules" but these are not necessarily laws that can or should not be purposely broken, revised, or ignored. So, the diagrams and accompanying dos and don'ts are simply guidelines. There are certain physical and geometric laws that stick- we can't do much about them. For instance, last time I looked, we only have one SUN*, so on a bright sunny day, at various times of day, the light will come from only ONE direction. If you are a light purest, if somehow you see light on any subject, in a photograph, coming for multiple directions you may get disunity of lighting that seems unnatural. That can happen if your flash fill is off-camera and too strong if somehow you have 2 main lights, coming in from opposite directions, in a studio setup, or if you use a reflector fill out of doors and it is too close, shiny or strong. Sometimes, however, so-called kicker lights striking the subject from multiple directions can be a dramatic or theatrical effect in portraiture or certain kids of still life work.

*Please take my word for it- don't go looking at the sun or for another one, you can damage your eyes!

The LAWS that you need to master and keep in mind are the Inverse Square Law and the Principles of Angle of Incidnese. The inverse square law is all about ligh falloff. We don't need to worry about the sun because it's 93-million miles away and it kida stays there (hopefully). When we set up lights, however, there is the matter of distance. The inverse square law can be your enemy and give you lousy on-camera flash results unless you know how to work around that, or it can be your friend because in, certain cases, light falloff is a cool tool.

ANGLE OF INCIDENCE theory, once you grasp it, gives you full control over your lighting. It is far from "rocket science". Light strikes people and/or stuff reflects off the people and/or stuff, and ends up in your camera. A lighting diagram can show you the geometry but you don't need to shoot carrying around a protractor and measuring out angles. Your in-camera TTL system or hand-held exposure meter can quantify light but your best "angle of incidents meters" are your eyeballs. There is a long list of elements that are effected and affected by the angle of incidence. One interesting example is you can have burned-out highlights on an otherwise perfectly exposed file caused simply by the angle the light was placed in relation to the camera and subject positions. A light placed at the same distance and set at the same power can create 2 different APERANT highlight densities when placed at different angles of incidence. Knowing this theory will also assist you in shooting anything from a black prune to a high polished metal chrome-plated object with perfect results. Stand by- good things are in store!

As section "manager" I suppose I have to set some rules. The regular forum rules will apply. As for specific rules. well- I want to be a good resource and I want everyone who is interested in participating to enjoy it and have fun. So, my basic rule is "PLAY NICE" no yellin', screamin' hollerin' cussin' and/or fightin'- please refer those to the main section or the Attic! Any grumpy post will be deleted. Here we are allowed to mess around with each other's work to illustrate points. We can show how to burn or dodge a blown highlight or vacant shadow or draw lines and arrows to point things out. When you post a masterpiece and do not want it messed with, just write DO NOT EDIT and your wishes will be respected.

Now let's get downn to the real RULES. The "rules" of lighting. Most folks, especially those with artistic temperaments, hate rules. Some folks who have no artistic temperament hate them anyway! So, if I post a tutorial I am gonna mention some "rules" but these are not necessarily laws that can or should not be purposely broken, revised, or ignored. So, the diagrams and accompanying dos and don'ts are simply guidelines. There are certain physical and geometric laws that stick- we can't do much about them. For instance, last time I looked, we only have one SUN*, so on a bright sunny day, at various times of day, the light will come from only ONE direction. If you are a light purest, if somehow you see light on any subject, in a photograph, coming for multiple directions you may get disunity of lighting that seems unnatural. That can happen if your flash fill is off-camera and too strong if somehow you have 2 main lights, coming in from opposite directions, in a studio setup, or if you use a reflector fill out of doors and it is too close, shiny or strong. Sometimes, however, so-called kicker lights striking the subject from multiple directions can be a dramatic or theatrical effect in portraiture or certain kids of still life work.

*Please take my word for it- don't go looking at the sun or for another one, you can damage your eyes!

The LAWS that you need to master and keep in mind are the Inverse Square Law and the Principles of Angle of Incidnese. The inverse square law is all about ligh falloff. We don't need to worry about the sun because it's 93-million miles away and it kida stays there (hopefully). When we set up lights, however, there is the matter of distance. The inverse square law can be your enemy and give you lousy on-camera flash results unless you know how to work around that, or it can be your friend because in, certain cases, light falloff is a cool tool.

ANGLE OF INCIDENCE theory, once you grasp it, gives you full control over your lighting. It is far from "rocket science". Light strikes people and/or stuff reflects off the people and/or stuff, and ends up in your camera. A lighting diagram can show you the geometry but you don't need to shoot carrying around a protractor and measuring out angles. Your in-camera TTL system or hand-held exposure meter can quantify light but your best "angle of incidents meters" are your eyeballs. There is a long list of elements that are effected and affected by the angle of incidence. One interesting example is you can have burned-out highlights on an otherwise perfectly exposed file caused simply by the angle the light was placed in relation to the camera and subject positions. A light placed at the same distance and set at the same power can create 2 different APERANT highlight densities when placed at different angles of incidence. Knowing this theory will also assist you in shooting anything from a black prune to a high polished metal chrome-plated object with perfect results. Stand by- good things are in store!