Studio Lighting for Small Spaces – Part 1
This is the first in a series of lighting tutorials. I think it’s a good idea to understand the basics of a thing. Learn the rules first and then break them with impunity later.
I offer this lesson freely from the bottom of my heart to the world at large, because frankly, bad lighting makes me cranky.
I have been setting up functioning, working studios in sometimes surprisingly small spaces over the span of two decades. My last camera room measured approximately 12’x16’. This lighting ‘recipe’ worked great there:
What is high key lighting? Wikipedia and I basically agree on the concept. High key lighting produces relatively shadowless images with a “blown” bright white background.
At this juncture, perhaps it is prudent to bend an old adage by saying, “another picture is worth a thousand words”.
Basically, high key is shot on a white background, typically seamless paper or a cyc (cyclorama) wall, but can also be against a simple white wall or other similar white background. The focus of this tutorial is on lighting small spaces, so a cyc wall would not be part of the equation.
First the set up. See the illustration below.
For the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll assume you are using 9 foot white seamless background paper and a four light setup. You can, if you wish, do this with a 3 light setup, and I’ll discuss that at the end of this lesson.
- You need two lights to illuminate your background. Place them approximately 2-3 ft away from the background and aim them at 45-degree angles toward the background, as shown in the diagram.
- Place your key light, which is the light providing the overall lighting on your subject, to one side of your subject, approximately 5 ft away, also at a 45 degree angle to them.
- Place the fill light opposite the key light, at the same distance away from the subject and at the same angle.
- In order to achieve a truly blown, white background, you should set your background lights at least one f-stop over your subject lighting. For example, I prefer to photograph my subjects at f/11; therefore, I set my background lighting at f/16. In larger spaces where your subject can be further away from the background, you can go 2 or even 3 stops over your subject lighting. In smaller spaces there is always the danger of strobe flare degrading the edges of your subject. There are ways around this problem, such as gobos etc, but these are often hard to use in a smaller space.
I personally meter the lighting for my subject to produce an overall setting of f/11, which usually means my key light is set at f/8-8.5 and my fill light is set at f/5.6, respectively. Of course, all these settings depend on the type of lights you have and the degree of control you have over their output. This is where a really good light meter comes in. I’ve used one like this Minolta Auto Meter for years and have been very pleased with it’s reliability and accuracy. Sekonic light meters are another good option.
That’s it. You’re ready. Fire away!
- For a three light setup, you will still use two lights for the background, but you will not use a fill light on your subject. The modifier for the key light should be as large as possible and positioned closer to the front of the subject.
If you would like to read more, check out these articles: