Lighting Seminar Info - Click

Table of Contents

Beginner advice
Common questions on studio lights & photography
Film for beginners
Over-exposed images
Modeling lights- on or off
Rating the film at a different ISO
On which meter do I set the ISO?
Beginner's depression

Beginner advice

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I am a novice to studio lighting. I am wondering if your lighting book will be a good start for me? I have been an amateur photographer for many years and I recently got hooked on studio lighting. The creativity just fascinates me. I am thinking about buying some studio equipment. I would appreciate your comment on equipment that you recommend (not too expensive!!). I have been thinking about getting into studio photography as a side business. Do you think it's achievable for me, or is it just a dream that I won't be able to do? I know it's hard to master studio lighting and probably takes years of practice
Thank you so much.
Jason

Dear Jason
With regard to my book, it is written to be easily understood. There are photographers who have posted comments in the photography forums after getting it. I am sure that any of them would be delighted to give you their unbiased comments. There are also around one hundred comments that have been sent to me about my book. You will find them by clicking on the link that is part way down the page describing my Lighting book. I wrote the book with all photographers in mind. Beginners to veterans. You see, I don’t believe that there is a difference between beginning lighting and advanced lighting. Either you know or you don’t. The variable is how consistent you do it and with what degree of precision. I firmly believe that lighting is very easy to learn IF it is presented in a simple and visual way. This is how I try to teach it in my classes and seminars and also in my books. I really do want you to get it. To me, if you don’t learn when I teach, it is I who have failed, and not you. The burden is on the instructor to make knowledge available to the mind of the student in a way that can be easily absorbed and more importantly be put into practical use.
With regard to equipment, please save your money until you have more knowledge. Many very nice and well meaning photographers will recommend all sorts of equipment. The equipment will not make you into a photographer. You can practice lighting in your home with a work light or lamp without the shade. Understanding where the light goes when photographing a person is very important. This is why I have a chapter in the Lighting book dedicated to various lighting patterns that a professional portrait works with. Without these, you are just dumping light onto the subject with no specific goal in mind. Until you begin buying equipment yo can practice the patterns with a household light as mentioned above. You can use something simple such as a white poster board to return some of the light back into the shadow side of the subject to practice controlling the fill light. You don't need an expensive reflector from a camera store to do this. The idea is to reflect light. White cardboard will do this just fine. It's not critical what you use. In my seminars I actually bring up a person wearing white and move them back and forth near the shadow side of the subject to demonstrate the most basic principle of returning some of the main light back into the shadow side of the face. This of course is to control the shadow side illumination as it relates to the highlight side of the face.
When you feel the need to buy lighting equipment I will recommend a simple power pack system but for now I think you should concentrate on some of the basic principles of lighting the human face with small, hard light source. Once you feel you have learned some or all of the basic lighting patterns such as loop, Rembrand, butterfly and so on, you might wish to begin working with a variable size light source, more specifically a diffusion panel. A diffusion panel is a frame with transluscent fabric on it. It simply sits near the subject and allows you to easily control the size of your light source. Bring the light closer to the materal and the light will be smaller from the perspective of the subject. Move it away from the fabric and the light becomes bigger from the view point of the subject. Small light source provide hard light that makes for harsher shadow edges and an overall harder look. Large light sources create a soft light that makes the shadow edges very soft and diffused giving the image a very gently soft look. You could say it gently wraps around the subject because of how large it is. Now imagine how many different sizes are inbetween small and large. One device that lets you make an unlimited number of different qualitys of light. Now that is control. For this reason I do not care for any fixed size light source. I want to be fully in control of the look of the portrait. If I have a fixed size light source such as an umbrella or soft boxe, the light quality will be the same every time you use it. Sure you can make great portraits with these fixed size light sources but you will have no control over their size. The size they are today is the size they will be tomorrow. The only thing that changes the quallity of light is the size of the light source. A diffusion panel does this quite well. To read more on this topic, click here.
Jason, getting into business is as easy or as difficult as you choose to make it. It’s like building an airplane. You can choose to build a 747 from scratch and you will probably encounter some pretty severe financial and technical problems. On the other hand, you could get into hang gliding and be aloft before you know it with less headaches and fewer expenses. It is a good principle to remember. We must walk before we can run and we need to be able to run before we can fly! I strongly recommend that before starting up a full or part time business that you develop your interest as a sincere hobby and get your skills up to a point where you are doing better work than amateur photographers and are moving closer toward professional quality work. During this period your hobby should support itself. Yes, some investment is required to get into professional photography but it is knowledge that will help you make the really sound decisions as to where and how to spend your money. There is much to learn before making the big decision as to what kind of lights to buy or if you want to learn with a conventional film camera or a new digital. Each is good for specific purposes but they both have drawbacks. You must determine what will best serve your needs for the kind of work you will likely be doing.
Get my book on light if you feel comfortable doing so. When you call to order you can ask me questions while you have me on the phone. Then, begin making yourself familiar with the basic principles of lighting. Learn to see light and shadow. Learn to recognize the many lighting patterns that you see in magazines, and photography books that feature portrait work. I especially recommend that you buy or borrow some of the PP of A loan collection books if you know a professional who has some. They are a wealth of inspiration and a huge source of wonderful work to study. Jason, begin with your mind. It is the most wonderful and valuable piece of photographic equipment you will ever learn to use. Resist the temptation to rush down and buy equipment based upon emotion and the talented sales person who sells this stuff for a living.
You said “I know it's hard to master studio lighting and probably takes years of skills and practice...”. This is just not true. Many photographers do indeed take years to develop their craft but with the correct attitude on your part and if you avoid the temptation to inundate your mind with too much random information from many different sources which may not always be accurate, you will accomplish your goals in a comparatively short period of time. You need patience and to focus on your goal of becoming a master of light, and not a master of collecting gadgets and equipment. You can do anything you desire as long as you remember to walk first. You also need not feel alone because as long as I am here, you may write to me via email for technical help and advice whever you need it. - Scott

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Scott, I recently purchased the Novatron 60-V400 2C Kit. Studio lighting is completely foreign to me and I am so confused I hope you can help. I am totally lost and overwhelmed. Noted below are my questions.
Thanks so much, I appreciate your time and advise.
Mark J.

Q. All of the diagrams that came with the kit illustrate only how to set up using 1 flashhead or 3. My kit has 2 heads. What do I do?

A. Using 2 heads is as easy as using one or three. You simply have to decide what you want to do with the heads. The most common head assignments are, main light, fill light, hair light and background light. To get the most use out of the two that you have, I would recommend using a reflector for a fill light. This would be a large white panel. That reflects light. With a reflector fill you can use your two powered lights as a main and a hair light. For your hair light you will need to use a set of barn doors. Avoid the temptation to buy a snoot.The barn doors are far better than a snoot because you can control how much light comes out of them. A snoot is not controllable. Control is what will make you a great image maker. Your main light at first will probably be an umbrella that came with your kit. It’s fine to start with but I do recommend that you consider a diffusion panels which will give you extreme control and flexibility with your lighting. Once again you can read about them in the area called “Equipment we use.”

Q. What is the best way to set lighting up for portraits and table-top product shots?

A. There is no simple answer for this question. All portraits are lit uniquely using general guidelines that are learned through study and experience. You must first learn the principles of where lighting goes on the human face. Once you have a grasp of that, you will understand where to place the lights in order to achieve the look you desire. Understanding what portrait lighting looks like is the first step. Studying images and breaking them down as to what parts are lit and what parts are in shadow is part of the learning process. In my lighting book I have a series of face portraits showing each of the patterns as done using a small light source. I use a small light source so the shadows are easily seen and understood. You can practice at home using nothing more than a desk lamp with the shade removed. In doing this you are not focused on the fact that you are using “studio lighting equipment” which can be a little intimidating at first. This way you can concentrate on the light and the shadow.
Commercial product work is far more involved and again has no single answer. Using large light sources like diffusion panels is a step in the right direction but you really need to study many commercial images and observe where the various lights come from. Each product you photograph has a unique shape, color and texture and must he handled according to it’s particular characteristics.

Q. Of these two heads that I have, is each head specific, such as main, accent, fill, or background etc. or is that only as it pertains to placement of the lights? Which one is considered to be the main light?

A. The two heads that came with your power pack will each receive half of the available power from your power pack. If your pack has 400 watts of power, 200 watts will be delivered to each head when the pack is set at full power. You may use any head for any position.

Q. One head has switches on it with (-2), and (-1). What do these settings mean and how do I determine how the switches should be set?

A. The reducing switches cut the output of that head by one f stop (-1) or two f stops (-2). This can be used creatively to control the amount of light reaching a particular area of the photograph. When you have more than two heads and can use one for a background light, you will find these switches useful in making the light on the background less prominent without changing the shape of the lighting pattern that you placed on the background. For example. It is common to place a pleasing glow on a dark background over the shoulders of your portrait subject. It adds a nice bit of separation between the subject and the background. By using a colored gel over the background light you can add a nice splash of color that can be complimentary to the colors your subject is wearing. When the background light is several feet away from the background, the pattern of light is much larger than when the light is very close to the background. If you will think about light as if you are spray painting it will be helpful. If your spray can is up close to the wall you are painting, the paint will be intense and in a small pattern. If you pull the spray can away from the wall, your spray pattern will be far less intense but much bigger. Light works exactly the same way. Think about light as if it is a liquid and some of its mystique will disappear.
When you are first learning to use your studio strobes, I strongly recommend that you use masking tape and tape the switches on the heads in the full power position and leave them there until you have mastered the basic concepts of working with strobes. Adjusting these switches in the early stages of learning about lighting will only add confusion confusion to the process and lengthen your learning curve.

Q. What are modeling lights and when are they used?

A. The modeling lights are the incandescent light bulbs that you see in the center of your flash head. They are there to illuminate your subject so you can see where the light is going to go when the strobes fire and the photograph is made. The strobes are the clear glass flash tubes located around the modeling bulb. They receive a large but very brief jolt of power from the power pack when you make an exposure. They produce the flash of light that lights the subject to make the exposure. The modeling lights are there so you can see what you are doing when placing your lights around your subject. Without modeling lights, you are essentially blind as to precisely where the light will go when the photograph is made. It’s just like a laser sight on a gun. The bullet is going to go where you see the red dot. Without the red dot, you must guess as to where the bullet will go by generally pointing in that direction. Just like the red dot, your modeling lights show you where the strobe light (bullet) will go when you fire. They remain on at all times. Don’t worry about them recording on film. You would have to use a very long shutter speed in order for the modeling light to become a significant part of the total exposure. A final note about modeling lights. If the room you are working in is not essentially dark, the modeling lights will be of little value because you will be seeing their light mixed in with the ambient light in the room where you are working. The room needs to be as dark as possible so you can see where the light from your flash heads is going.

Q. How do I meter the subject when it is strobe lighting?

A. When a strobe fires you can say that an event or incident has occurred. The incident being the flash of light that is used to light your subject. Taking meter readings of incident (flash) light requires you to set your meter in the incident mode. Your meter is usually connected to your power pack using a sync cord. This is the same kind of cord that connects between the power pack and your camera so that the when you press the shutter release button on the camera, the strobes will fire. Likewise when you press the button on your meter to take a reading, the strobes will fire and your measurement is made. It is more convenient to connect two sync cords to your power pack at the same time so you don’t have to keep taking the cord off the camera and putting it on the flash meter. To do this, simply get an AC splitter. This is the little block that you plug into the AC wall outlet that gives you several extra sockets. Plug this into your power packs sync receptacle and then plug the two sync cords into it with their other ends connected to your camera and flash meter. Your meter must be set to the ISO rating of the film you are using. I won’t go into the details of why, here, but most photographer rate their film a bit lower than what is recommended on the packaging. For instance, if you use Kodak Portra 160NC portrait film, you will find that most photographers rate it at ISO 80 or 100 for a more proper exposure. In brief, point your meter toward the main light, (the light that provides the main source of lighting on your subject) and take your reading. The fill light always goes behind and near to the camera. If you are using a reflector fill, it is placed on the opposite side from the main light at eye level to the subject and as far out in front of the subject as possible without being seen in the viewfinder. The f stop reading on your meter is what you set the aperture on your lens to. That is the basic method of metering. All your lights remain on (contrary to what you may have been told) so your reading reflects the proper information that will match the conditions when you actually make your exposures.

Q. Is it best to perform a reflective or incident reading?

A. Reflective readings are not generally used for most portrait situations. The reflective light coming from a subjects skin will cause variations in exposure depending on if the person has light or dark skin. Consistency is what you want in professional photography and reading the light itself rather than reflected light is far more accurate.

Q. How far should the light head be from the umbrella?

A. Generally, you place the umbrella shaft in the strobe head and pull it out just enough so that the strobe is a far away from the umbrella as the metal shaft will allow. To slide the umbrella in closer to the flash unit than this will reduce the effective size of the light source and render your portraits a bit more harsh looking. This harsher look is a result of the more defined shadow edges which are caused by the now smaller light source.

Q. How do I know how to set the power reducing control on the power pack?

A. Some power packs have a rocker switch that selects the full output of the power pack, 2/3rds power and 1/3rd power or perhaps half and quarter power. There are also great new packs that are called Digital packs. Don't let this frighten you. It has nothing at all to do with digital photography. A digital pack simply gives you the ability to control the total amount of power going to all the flash heads at the same time. The cool thing is that you get to reduce it or increase it in 1/10th stop increments. This gives you tremendous control over the f stop you make exposures with. Choosing the f stop allows you to control the depth of field in your image. This is not complicated at all. For ease of understanding, lets pretend that your pack is a 600 watt model. Placing the switch in the 2/3rds position will tell the pack to generate 400 watts (2/3rds of it’s total capability). By placing the switch in the 1/3rd position, only 200 watts (1/3rd of it’s total power) will be generated to fire the strobes. With a digital pack you can reduce as you desire. Some of the more conventional packs that have rocker switches to control output power label the switch positions with the amount of wattage that is available in that setting. For example, you might see a 1600 watt pack that has the rocker switch labeled with two positions at 800 watts and also 400 watts. The switch simply reduces the power which gives you some choices in f stops so you can select a variety of apertures which gives you control over depth of field (the amount of image area that is in focus in front of and behind the place where you are focused).
There are also packs provide a knob rather than a rocker switch. This knob turns and provides continuous adjustment of the output from full power down to about 1/8th power. This is a good feature since you can have an unlimited variety of f stop choices within the range of the settings from 1/8th to full power. The knob is the same creative tool as the rocker switch but is continuously variable with many more choices. The digital pack however is till the ultimate in control. Mono lights which are self contained flash units that do not rely on an external power pack are also available with different methods of control.

Q. The Shutter speed of my Cannon is 1/125. How do make sure it is in sync with the lights?

A. Your camera has many shutter speeds but only from the sync speed down will your camera sync with your strobes. The sync speed is usually printed in red on the shutter speed dial on your camera. If your camera is a newer one with an LCD display, it may indicate the sync speed with an icon next to the speed or that speed might look different in some way. To be sure, you have to check the instruction book that came with your camera. Any speed at or below the sync speed will work but you don’t want to go too low or you will see motion blur if your subject is move during the time that the shutter is open. A sync speed of about 1/60th is generally a safe choice for general portrait applications. Some lenses with leaf shutters will sync at much higher speeds but for camera room work, 1/60 will work fine for 99 % of your images. It is not uncommon for digital cameras to have much higher sync speeds than conventional film cameras. This can indeed be useful but not so much as the sales person might tell you.

Q. I have a 4x5 large format camera. How do I determine what it's sync speed is?

A. Again the sync speed is determined by the shutter type. This view camera probably uses a leaf shutter that will sync up to 1/500th. Check with the manufacturer of the lens if you are not sure.

If you will take one step at a time and keep your learning focused on the science of light rather than on the equipment used, you will grow in your knowledge much faster. Letting yourself be influenced by every new opinion that you hear at the camera store will only serve to frustrate you and blur the road toward your goals. - Scott

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Need some advice for which film to choose for a beginner using 35mm camera. Hopefully I won't be using this camera for long but nothing else fit my budget. Don't want to ruin my image by using film that isn't going to do a nice job. Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
Lori

Dear Lori:
When in the early stages of learning about photography (as you indicated was the case), the type of film you use is not nearly as important as sticking with one film while you are learning. It's a little like learning how to drive a race car. If today you practice in a stock car and tomorrow you practice in a dragster and the next day you practice in an Indy car, you will gain little usable experience for the race that will use trucks as the race vehicle. If the conditions of your practice change frequently, you will not have any base line to learn from. The results will be different every time you change film. So with that in mind let me recommend that you select one film that will suit the majority of the work you believe you will be doing. If your interest is in portraiture in the studio, select a film made for that such as Kodak Portra 160NC. If the bulk of your work is going to be outdoor portraits in natural light at the end of the day, consider Kodak's 400VC film. Both are professional products and will provide consistent results for you to learn from. It is very common for young photographers who are frustrated with their work to keep trying new films with the thought that it is the film that will make the difference. Not true. While the characteristics of each film do indeed vary, the differences are not nearly as pronounced as the variations in the photographers lighting, metering and posing skills. Switching around frequently just doesn't help at all. Removing the variables from the playing field will be your very best helper.
Finally, please don't believe that the camera is what makes the photographer. Most of us started out using 35mm. The single most important thing for you to remember is that a camera is a box that holds film. It is YOU who creates the image. The camera is only a tool in your hands. Sure, medium format will give you a bigger negative that will require less spotting and will hold up better to enlargement but I bet you are not too worried about making 30 X 40 inch prints at this moment. If you are thinking about a digital camera, then the issue of film is gone but you will have to learn to be very precise because digital cameras do not have anywhere near the lattitude for exposure variation that film does. Even if you plan to use a digital camera for some or all of your work, it is not a bad thing to use a simple old 35mm that has almost not buttons or settings to change. This way the focus can be on learning about light, shadow, exposure and photograpic techniques rather than how to run your new computer with a lens. Digital cameras are awesome in many things they can do but they are not the answer to everything. Don't rush to buy ANY kind of equipment until you have thoughtfully considered the options and what you plan to be doing. Put your energies on loading your brain with real world knowledge and experience. If you do, the success you seek, will come in good time.

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I took some pictures of a 40 mile race this weekend using my film camera. The pictures looked overexposed, but I only use natural lighting. Do you have any idea of what I did wrong?
Tammy

Miss Tammy your exposure difficulties could be quite a number of different things. Here they are:

You did not use your meter correctly.
You set your aperture incorrectly.
You set your shutter speed incorrectly.
You set the ISO on your meter incorrectly.
Your lab printed all of the images a too light.
A combination of these.

Your images may or may not be overexposed. You will know more by looking at the negatives than the prints. If you are not familiar with how normally exposed negatives typically look, ask someone who works with negatives all the time if yours look too thick. An experience film processor or printer at a lab can advise you. You can also ask your pro lab to take a densitometry reading which will tell you quite a lot about your exposure. Don't kick yourself just yet. Do some investigation to see if you had some help with the error.

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Even though this question was answered in the common questions Q & A above, it is such a common question that I feel I should include it as a topic all to itself.

Question: When I am making portraits of people in the camera room with my studio strobes, should I shut my modeling lights off when it's time to take the photograph or leave them on? Will they effect the image if I leave them on?

Answer : When you work with studio lighting equipment that has both flash units and modeling lights in the same head, they are intended to be used with all of the lights operating. The modeling lights are there so you can see what you are doing, where the light is going, where the shadow is going, where the hair light is, background light and so on. Without the modeling lights you might as well put a blind fold on. You cannot see what you are doing. If you are working in a room where the ambient light from windows or other lights in the room are interfering with your ability to see where your lighting is, you have a problem. Your camera room should be dark like a darkroom. If it's not, then you have no idea what you are doing and will never learn the art of lighting. Your room must be dark and your modeling lights must be on at all times so you can see continuously what your lighting is doing even if your subject moves around.

When you are ready to take the photograph, you don't shut the modeling lights off. Their total output is dramatically less than your strobe output so they will not record on film in any appreciable quantity. Think about it. It would really be a pain to have to turn of the modeling lights before all of your images are made. Bottom line? LEAVE THOSE BABIES ON!

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Due to the frequency of this question I have also included it in the Film, Light and Color Q & A section.

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Hardly a day goes by without me receiving this question. The answer is rather involved so I need to include something that will help young photographers understand why this is an important concept. The question relates to film rather than digital cameras. If you are using a digital camera however, you still need to establish a working ISO that you use all the time so your exposures are correct and predictable. Testing your digital camera for this is much like the test that I teach in my Lighting Book only reversed since the big concern is not so much detail in the shadows but detail in the highlights.

Question: In your web site, you mention rating the film at a different ISO than is recommended by the manufacture. Can you explain why?

Answer: The answer to your question is fairly involved but very important to making correct exposures. In my lighting book, this topic takes a significant amount of space.

There really is nothing to be puzzled about. One must establish the proper method of making a correctly exposed negative. You don't make a perfect negative just by selecting a certain ISO. Many factors are involved. These factors include your meters characteristics, your personal method of metering, your method of lighting and your camera and lens characteristics. That's a lot of variables (and they do vary more than you think) so it should be no surprise that determining a proper, repeatable method of making exposures is absolutely essential. Without it, you are doing nothing more than guessing and placing your exposures, at some unknown location within the films exposure range. Photography can be precise with repeatable results or a guess which will produce usable results some of the time but lack total control over all situations.

Did you know that meters can vary more than a half stop from one to the next? That is significant just as is the fact that cameras shutter speeds vary as do the apertures of lenses. Usually not to a great extent but all of these factors add up and contribute to your overall exposure.

Photographers who rate their film as indicated on the box are assuming that the film was intended to be rated this way because of a general assumption about the way that photographers take meter readings. When photographers talk about film speed, they will frequently mention how they rate their film but rarely do they mention HOW they take their meter readings. One is absolutely as important as the other because how you take meter readings determines how your meter reads the light. The common assumption is that meter readings will be made with the dome of the meter facing toward the camera and NOT toward the main source of illumination. This method of metering arbitrarily over exposes the film because it is based on the lower fill light rather on the main light as it should be. The advantage for the film companies is that their film appears to be faster than it really is. It's easy to see why they like this. When you meter as they suggest, you base your entire exposure around the amount of light reaching the shadows rather than basing it upon the highlight as it should be. You will have plenty of detail in the shadow part of your image but your diffused highlights (the most important part of your photograph) will be randomly changing density on the film which in turn will cause your images to vary in both contrast and color balance. The change is due to the fact that as you create lighting with different styles and ratios the difference between the light from the main light and the fill light will change. When you base your exposure on the shadows, the all important highlight jumps around with your lighting style and ratio. Does it make sense to base your entire exposure upon what the shadows look like rather than what the highlight part of the face looks like? No way! This old method (which makes the film appear to be faster than it really is) places the all important diffused highlights as the least important part of the negative.

Once you have tested and established a a working ISO for the film you are using and are metering correctly and consistently, you will have detail in every shadow regardless of whether you are using a gentle ratio or a heavy one and more importantly you will have diffused highlights that are virtually identical from first frame to last. No special processing is required. Your lab will love you and your images will be consistent and predictable.

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On which meter do I set the ISO?

Due to the frequency of this question I have also included it in the Metering Q & A section.

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When you set the ISO on your flash meter, do I also set the same ISO on the meter in my camera?
Burt

Dear Burt:
I bet a day doesn't go by where I don't receive this question. This mostly applies to film cameras. I want to make you think a little here so you will thoroughly grasp this concept. Here we go. What does the hand held flash meter measure? It measures the studio strobe lighting that is falling upon the subject. You then use the f stop setting that it recommends and set your lens aperture accordingly. What happens with the meter in your camera during all this? Not a thing! Why would you even think about the meter in the camera? It does not measure flash. It measures the amount of available light that is in the room. (Not much compared to the flash.)You are NOT using the room light to light your portrait. You are using the studio strobes to light your portrait. Your camera is in the FULL MANUAL mode (or at least it better be) and you are the one telling it what to do. Set the shutter speed to the proper sync speed that the camera is made for and then set the f stop on the lens and then MAKE PICTURES! Don't make it complicated. You don't use two meters at the same time. The one in the camera might as well not even be there. It is not used. Let me say this again. IT IS NOT USED. Now I feel better. Use the meter in the camera when you are outdoors during the day. That is what it is there for. It is NOT for studio strobe work. Your handheld flash meter measures the strobe output, you set the camera and then create. That's it! Simple, easy, cool, no worries.

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Scott,
Do you think using a monolight with 240 true watt seconds and a fill would give me a decent f-stop using Kodak Portra 160NC rated at about 80? I just found out the WL 10,000 monolight that I was thinking of buying has only 240 watt seconds of power instead of 400. I'm very afraid of investing money in the studio lights just to find out that I'm not able to be a decent photographer. I have seen some pretty awful beginners photos in the studio. I have read your book a couple of times and feel like I have a good grasp of it.
Honestly, what should I buy? I was thinking of just starting with one light and building up, but now that I find out that the WL 10,000 is only 240 watt seconds, I am totally depressed. Help me.
Susan D.
P.S. Your photo gallery is great. It makes me depressed.

Hi there:
Ok, depression out the window. Got it??!!
Now. IF you have read the book, you already know about my exercise that I do in my class where the only equipment for lighting is a $5.00 work light from someone's garage, a bed sheet, a white T-shirt and a mirror. With that, we create a totally professional portrait. You have to stop thinking that the equipment makes the photographer. No way. YOU are the image maker. You could do great things using available light and window light for a long time while you learn. Relax. IF your gut tells you that you feel unsure about making a purchase, believe it! Save the money. Some lighting equipment companies rate their equipment so that it appears to be more powerful than it really is. This is something to watch for. This however, is not about power, it's not about 240 watt seconds or ISO's. It's about you feeling not in control yet. That's ok. Right now you have equipment on your mind because you feel you need it to do good work. Not so. This is the best time for you NOT to buy equipment. Absolutely. You need to focus on seeing light and your metering technique. Use window as a directional light source with Kodak Portra 400VC film rated at 250 to 320. Use a chunk of foam core or some white sheets of paper taped together or a white T-shirt to return some of the window light back into the shadow side of your subject. Learn to see. Study where the light is and where it is not. Forget the hardware and look to your own mind to see what you are doing. Take long and slow looks at the light. Study it. See it. Look at the edge between the light and the shadow. How wide is it? How large is your main light? How do they relate to each other. You must fill your mental database. You have a world of things to learn that does not require hardware. When it's time to buy hardware, you will know and you will feel good about it.
My gallery should not make you depressed. There is not one image there that you cannot do. Not one. Study them. Study the light and the shadow. Study the diagrams that are included with some of them. Take your time. Don't expect to change history overnight. None of my images are complex regardless of what you may think. When you were 7 years old, did you feel that driving a car was a complicated thing to do? How do you feel about it now? Easy, right? We learn one thing at a time. Being frustrated as a young photographer is a way of life. How sad but true that so many give up because they focus on things that mean so little. Take a walk out side in the morning or the afternoon. Leave your meter and camera home. Just walk and look at the world. Look at the tree. Can you see that it is brighter on one side than the other? How much brighter is it? See the light. See the shadow. See the place between them that we call the shadow edge. Look toward the setting sun. See the green leaves in the tree that the sun is back lighting? If a person were standing there, what would the light do to their hair? How much light would reach their face on the side facing you and the camera? Think about different brightness levels of light. Think about different darkness levels of shadows. See the light. Do all this with no equipment other than what you came with. Your eyes and your mind. Use them. Look at the couple sitting on the park bench. Do they look nicely composed under the big tree? Close one eye. Can you now see the sign post coming out of her head? We see more with one eye than with two because with two the third dimension lets our minds filter out the distracting background. Good for our minds but bad when you get the pictures back and see the post. Go out and teach yourself by making photography simple and less frustrating. You will know when it's the right time to buy lights. You gut will tell you and your mind will feel good about it. No uncertainty. Time is a pretty good teacher. Better when you add patience. You can do anything in photography that you desire, provided that you give yourself the opportunity to do it.

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