Top 10 Mistakes: Studio Light Exposure and Color

I have been taking a break from the forums, because I’ve had way way way too much going on with my own studio and life to get sucked into the online world.  But now that things are slowing down I’ve had a chance to browse at a few of the sites where I hold memberships, and I’ve found that very little has changed.  People are having many of the same problems now that they were six months ago — its just that the individual posters are new, so the problems are new to them.  And when I look through my photographer email box, and then browse the forum threads, I can see that many of the same questions are being asked over and over again.  So in the interest of time (because there’s no way I can catch up on the volume of un-replied-to email I have in my “From Photographers” folder — sorry, folks!) I thought it might be best to just address some of these questions and problems, in general, on the blog.

I mentioned to some other photographers that I was planning an article about the most common problems that new photographers run into, and I got much more input than I expected… and many of these established photographers had the same “I wish I’d known then what I know now” comments.  So here is the first installement in a series called The Top 10 Mistakes New Photographers Make, as suggested by photographers across the country and as compiled from the forums and my own Photographer Email inbox.

10) “My color/exposure/lighting pattern is all over the place when I use studio lights, and I’m not sure why.” I hear from many, MANY photographers who are coming from an “available light only” background and are just beginning to learn to use studio lights.  There are some things you need to know before you get started.  First, starting with one light and a reflector is going to help you a lot more than starting with a main, a fill, and a background light.  Start simple, and once you master the simple, then start adding lights.  It is very difficult to figure out what is going wrong at first if you have too many lights in your setup.  Also, don’t turn off the modeling lights on your strobes… you need to see where the light is falling when you’re just getting started, because it will save you time and help you learn WHY things look better with the light in one position than they do in another.

Exposure problems are almost always caused by one of two things: either the photographer hasn’t invested in a light meter (and yes, I do believe that its a must-have item for studio work) or they’re shooting on one of the program modes, instead of Manual. I hear people say all the time “well I metered with my camera and it overexposed” or “well the first shot was too bright, and then the second shot was a little bit better and I don’t know what changed.”  With strobes, you HAVE to shoot manual.  Your camera is a smart little gadget, but it isn’t that smart.  When you’re using strobes and trying to shoot on Aperture or Shutter Priority or Program mode, OR if you’re trying to use it to meter, what happens is that the camera reads the ambient light in the room and gives you settings that are appropriate for the room light.  Your modeling lights on a strobe are often just regular light bulbs, and they don’t put out as much power as the flash from the strobe will.  Learn to use a flash meter, and set your camera accordingly.  Also know that unless your shutter speed is slow, the ambient light in your room is not likely to have much, if any, effect on your exposure.  With studio strobes, your exposure from the flash is tied to your aperture, and the amount of ambient light (room light) you let into the camera is tied to your shutter speed.  I don’t want to get into a big technical lesson here on the blog, but you can read more about those connections in most basic photography books.

The other big problem I see, sometimes even with people who have experience with studio light work, is in trying to use Auto White Balance. Your room light and your modeling lamp are usually “tungsten balanced,” meaning they produce very warm light in comparison to daylight.  Remember back in the film days, if you’d take a photo indoors without using a flash, how orangey that photo would come out?  That’s because back then, we were using “daylight” color film and the light from regular light bulbs is much warmer, as far as color temperature is concerned.  The same holds true for digital.  The light from your strobes is daylight balanced, so even if you are shooting with studio lights in a dark room, with only the modeling lamp on, and you use AWB on your camera, your camera will “read” the light from that good ol’ tungsten light bulb in your modeling lamp.  When you actually shoot, the cooler light from the flash will record too blue, and your color results in your studio shots will be inconsistent.  I am a big fan of Custom White Balance, but if you are in a pinch, using Daylight or Flash on your camera will give you much more consistent results with studio light than AWB will.

Two gadgets to try: an Expodisc and a Sekonic Light Meter.  Every time I recommend the Sekonic I get an email saying “isn’t there anything cheaper?”  Yes, sure there is.  You can get an analog meter for next to nothing… but it is much harder to learn to use and is likely to take you more time to read.  The Sekonic will last you a long time and is also great for outdoor work.  And no, I do not get paid by Sekonic to say that.    A good light meter is just a must-have piece of equipment for all professionals, in my opinion, and they have a few different models, depending on your budget.  Studio lights I’d recommend for beginners: Alien Bees, and one of their softboxes.  You will need a modifier for any strobe, and yes, you can use shoot through umbrellas as well, but because softboxes provide a more controlled light, I like to use them for teaching so that we can see as easily as possible where the problems might be.  Also, if you’re looking to use studio strobes to get more of a windowlight effect, you are more likely to get that with a softbox.  The largest Alien Bees box is not really very big, and they are portable for all you location shooters.

Check back in next week for the next installment… I’m hoping to do one of these a week.  And feel free to drop me a comment here — I am still sending photographer email to a holding tank, because I really just don’t have time right now to answer individual emails.

The Marketing Collection

I’ve had several emails asking if this was available yet, and YES, it was released earlier this summer.  We had a fantastic group buy going on ProPs for awhile.  So because there has been so much interest, I am offering an “informal group buy” for this week only.  If you order this week, I am offering the Marketing Collection for the original intro price of $175 (normally $250).  This special will end on Saturday night, so all of you blog followers can have a crack at it as well as those who have emailed me. 

What IS the Marketing Collection?

To purchase, email me at workshops at shelbylane dot net.  And remember: the “informal group buy” price ends THIS SATURDAY.

Last Day

This is the last day to get the Marketing Collection at the introductory price of $175! After midnight tonight, it will be going up to $250. Here’s the scoop about what it includes:

• Over 60 samples of marketing pieces we have used in the studio, including business cards, t-shirt and bib/onesie designs, drop cards, promo postcards, samples of our “Simply Elegant” line of holiday and birth announcement cards, thank you notes, ads for local publications and events, price lists for the regular studio offerings (and an in-store promo mini-session), and our current Circle of Friends promo emails and postcards. These are great to help jump start some inspiration for your own pieces! I do not do mass/direct mail, but I have included some of our mailed invitations that we’ve sent out to selected members of our current client list.
• By popular demand: our newest partnership proposal template, in layered PSD files, including the generic pre-written partnership proposal letter. Add in your own information and go!
• Four of our Promo Slideshows
• Full session contact sheets from a maternity, a newborn, a 6 month, a 9 month, and a 12 month session.
• 10 “mini-lessons” to help you get started thinking about building your OWN brand and style, with exercises.

I think this kit will be a great resource to help you start your brand building and your marketing plan, just in time for you to gear up for the holiday season! If you’d like to purchase the kit and are outside of a 100 mile radius of the studio, drop me a note at workshops at shelbylane dot net. And Shannon, your CD is going out today! Thanks for being so patient.

Bookshelf: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

Hi, I’m Shelby and I am a compulsive reader. If you’ve ever spent time with me in person, you’ll know that I almost always have a book in the car, and in my purse, and in my suitcase. So, for the workshops, I’m making a list of “must reads” for photographers. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand, by Al and Laura Ries, is at the top of that list. If you’re just getting started in this business or are working to restructure your image, this book needs to be on your list, too. It explains the basics of branding, and looks at case studies from well-known corporations that highlight their mistakes as well as their successes.

Is it the complete branding gospel? No. There are a few things that I don’t completely agree with in practice, for us as photographers. But I do think that it’s a wonderful place to start. You can pick it up at your local bookstore or library, or online at Amazon.com.

Snoopy Dance!

I am so honored to be the July Photog on the Blog for Simply Splash! I love Kim Townsend and her work — she has the best splash and blog designs out there — so I am just thrilled that she asked me to be on the blog this month.  Check out her site for the interview. 

Announcing: The Marketing Collection

For those of you who I know are waiting, I am just about finished with the full 2009 Photographer’s Kit. It’s going to be very much like last year’s kit, but with even more info and some fresh pieces. But until the full kit is done, I’m proud to announce that the Marketing Collection is now available for pre-order, and I think you’re going to love it. What it includes:

• Over 60 samples of marketing pieces we have used in the studio, including business cards, t-shirt and bib/onesie designs, drop cards, promo postcards, samples of our “Simply Elegant” line of holiday and birth announcement cards, thank you notes, ads for local publications and events, price lists for the regular studio offerings (and an in-store promo mini-session), and our current Circle of Friends promo emails and postcards. These are great to help jump start some inspiration for your own pieces! I do not do mass/direct mail, but I have included some of our mailed invitations that we’ve sent out to selected members of our current client list.
• By popular demand: our newest partnership proposal template, in layered PSD files, including the generic pre-written partnership proposal letter. Add in your own information and go!
• Four of our Promo Slideshows
• Full session contact sheets from a maternity, a newborn, a 6 month, a 9 month, and a 12 month session.
• 10 “mini-lessons” to help you get started thinking about building your OWN brand and style, with exercises.

This latest kit will be available for purchase for the pre-order introductory price of $175 (to anyone outside of a 100 mile radius of the studio) and again, I’d be happy to talk about a group buy for any of the forums out there. Contact me at workshops at shelbylane.net for more information. I think this kit will be a great resource to help you start your brand building and your marketing plan, just in time for you to gear up for the holiday season! We’re taking pre-orders by email as of today, and by phone as of Tuesday. Downloads will be available next Saturday.

A little seasonal design help: Color

Let’s talk a little bit about marketing design. You have your “branded” colors (probably), and that is great. But what about your marketing pieces? Does everything ALWAYS need to be, let’s say, pink and green, for all eternity? I change my colors seasonally, keeping the same logo and sticking in the same general color palette. That color scheme has evolved a little over the years as I have gotten tired of whatever the “bright” color was, but there is always a base of browns and tans. So my look for spring will usually have a lighter base, and my look for autumn will have a richer and deeper look, but still keeping in that same color family.

But if you’re like me, choosing the colors in the first place can be tough. Are you stuck on choosing a color palette for your site or your seasonal marketing pieces? Check out the Pantone Color Previews for next season. It will give you an idea of what popular color combos will be out there in marketing for the retail stores.

Another, slightly more user friendly compilation of the “in” colors for the upcoming season is available at FashionTrendsetters.com. I like the way they’ve divided their report into schemes: Revive, Reflect, Preserve, and Construct. The Revive and Reflect schemes are soooooo me… in fact, everything I’ve bought lately, clothing-wise, for me and the kids and the studio happens to be in one of these colors.

So let’s say you’ve picked your super all time favorite color, and now you’re looking for other colors that will complement it. Try the Color Scheme Generator. It will give you the hex codes for all the colors in your scheme, which comes in handy when you’re setting up anything online. This can also help when choosing paint colors for your house or studio. Remember that if you’ve found a color that you absolutely love and it’s on an image, you can go into Photoshop and use the color picker tool — once that Color Picker menu comes up, with the big color box, look at the bottom near the middle and you will get the HTML “hex” code for your selected color. You can use many of these colors online with the hex code, or jot it down by your desk to make it easier to remember the exact colors you’re using.

Now for Sale: The Client Collection

For the past year, I’ve been giving copies of my client info pack to workshop attendees, and over and over I’ve heard “can’t we get the files from you so we can just use our own information?” Well here you go. The Client Collection includes a fully customizable set of my client cards — two, actually, because I’m offering them in two designs, with two handmade backgrounds, on WHCC press templates. You can customize them even more by adding your own backgrounds, colors and font styles, but no matter HOW custom you decide to make them, all the text is included on a layered, editable file. So the hard part is done for you!

The set is available for $199 retail, but I would be happy to talk about group buys for you forum people. These are available for purchase to photographers outside of a 100 mile radius from the studio. Email me at workshops@shelbylane.net if you’d like to order!

Congratulations, Shannon Steffens!

Thanks to everyone who submitted a wish list for what the new photographer’s kit should include! We drew Shannon Steffens’s name out of the hat as our winner! Shannon, who hails from Minnesota, will receive the full kit as soon as it’s done — and I am almost there!