Photography Lighting

February 29, 2016

High-Tech Studio: Nontraditional Photography Lighting

Expand your creativity with these nontraditional uses of lighting tools

By Ellis Vener
Mastering softboxes, beauty dishes, reflectors, gobos and spots is all part of the job of the commercial photographer. Having the ability to dig into a bag of lighting tricks and come up with a “solution” to a challenging shoot is all in a day’s work. A masterful photographer, though, keeps looking for new solutions to problems, even before they... Read more
January 19, 2016

Battery Powered Monolights for Photography

With a combination of portability, power, versatility and the ability to be used away from an AC outlet, battery-powered monolights are gaining an increasing following among professional photographers

The Editors
Monolights are self-contained pro flash units that plug into standard AC wall sockets, no separate power pack needed. All the controls are on the flash head—no need to move to a power pack to adjust power and other settings (although many newer monolights feature standard or optional remote controls). Some monolights can also operate from battery... Read more
September 7, 2015

DPP Solutions: Lighting In A Box

The Elinchrom BRX 500/500 two-light kit provides on-location lighting that’s on par with studio gear back home

By David Schloss
Location photographers often have to make compromises when it comes to lighting, opting to carry an unreasonable amount of lighting gear in order to achieve a look similar to studio lighting, or dramatically scale back the power and performance of the studio for weight and cost savings. The Elinchrom BRX 500/500 two-light to-go set aims to address those... Read more
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July 7, 2015

Hi-Tech Studio: Strobes On The Go

With a combination of light weight, portability and high power, monolights are serious tools for wedding photographers who need more than an on-camera flash

By The Editors
There are two basic types of studio flash: powerpack-and-heads systems and monolights. The former provides a lot of power and control, but is a bit unwieldy, and the cables connecting the lamp heads to the powerpack are just waiting to trip someone. Monolights are self-contained; the lamp head and the powerpack are built into a single unit. Like the... Read more
April 10, 2014

Special Lighting Guide: Lights!

In a still photography world, strobes were the gold standard of professional lighting gear.

By William Sawalich
Strobes & Flash In a still photography world, strobes were the gold standard of professional lighting gear. Prized for their combination of power and performance and for their ability to freeze a subject for maximum apparent sharpness, strobes continue to be top-level tools for just about any photo situation. Being a professional photographer... Read more
September 1, 2013

Tools Focusing Light

Create precisely shaped shafts of light with these essential modifiers fitted to your source

Text And Photography By William Sawalich
With almost all types of studio lighting, precision is paramount. Whether it’s separating a portrait subject from the background or placing a tiny sliver of light on one element in a tabletop still-life setup, when it comes to placing light precisely, broad lighting just won’t cut it. Whether you’re working to eliminate spill or you... Read more
December 1, 2012

Hi-Tech Studio: Monolights

As ideal lighting for studio or location photographers, monolights give you a great combination of power, control and portability

The Editors
Today’s pros use two main types of light in the studio: electronic flash and continuous "hot" lights. Today’s pros use two main types of light in the studio: electronic flash and continuous "hot" lights. Each offers its own benefits and drawbacks. Hot lights are a topic for another article; this time we’ll look... Read more
July 1, 2012

Hi-Tech Studio: Continuous Lighting For Motion And Stills

LED technology makes a play for the spotlight

By David Willis
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are incredibly compact bulbs that consume very little power while throwing off absolutely minimal heat. Unlike traditional continuous lighting, this makes them efficiently designed fixtures particularly suitable for working in closed environments like photo studios. What’s more, the light produced by an LED bulb is... Read more
December 22, 2009

Hi-Tech Studio: An Option For Continuous Lighting

With DSLRs and video taking the photography and film worlds by storm, more and more photographers are looking to break into motion work.

By The Staff
With DSLRs and video taking the photography and film worlds by storm, more and more photographers are looking to break into motion work. With that in mind, some photographers who have been more accustomed to strobe lighting are finding that continuous lights for both still and video might be a better fit for their new workflow. Strobe lighting has... Read more
August 10, 2009

Misinformation: Lighting Tech

In a time when fewer pros have their own studio space, a compact lighting system can give you the options and versatility to get the job done anywhere

By The Staff
Myth: You Need Big Strobes In an economic slowdown, photographers look to cut costs as much as possible. In many cases, this has meant eliminating the studio and a lot of the expensive gear that often sits around taking up space in said studio. Thankfully, eliminating the studio, and therefore studio lighting, doesn’t really mean that your lighting... Read more
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