Photo Setup | Jobs on Set and Specialized Lighting Situations

Jobs on Set and Specialized Lighting Situations

In this lesson, you’ll learn about the various people employed on set. Sometimes, you’ll work with a large crew and all these job titles will be in play. Sometimes, you’ll work with a smaller crew and there will be fluidity in roles. Many of these jobs are great for beginning photographers; you get experience and usually get paid to learn!

In the second half of this lesson, we’ll discuss some specialized lighting situations like: Avedon lighting, shooting reflective objects and shooting to create reflections.

 

In our next lesson, we’ll talk about crew that you or your client might hire for work in front of the camera (stylists, MUA, models). In this lesson, we’ll look at crew that works behind the scenes.

On some jobs you’ll be the assistant, digi tech, or second shooter…on others you’ll be hiring those people for your own shoots. You are never too amateur to need these helpers and rarely too professional either. I hire plenty of second shooters and assistants, while sometimes still filling those roles myself.

Second Shooters

A Second Shooter is especially helpful for wedding and event photography. In addition to serving as a back up for important moments or in case of camera failures, a second shooter can be in a location when you cannot (for example, covering the cocktail hour while you shoot romantic photos of the bride and groom). A second shooter allows you to capture two angles at once (for example the groom’s reaction to seeing the bride walking down the aisle while you are capturing the bride walking down the aisle).

In this particular wedding, the bride walked down an aisle with her parents at the same time that the groom walked down another aisle with his friend.

 

I set my second shooter up with the guy’s side while I focused on the ladies.

 

When hiring a second shooter, be sure to discuss responsibilities and expectations ahead of time, ideally with a contract. Do you expect the second to hand over unedited RAW files and their copyright? Do you expect them to edit their photos for you? Will your second retain portfolio usage and/or full copyright? What is the timeline for when you expect the photos from them? Also, be sure to prompt your second shooter and your assistant on the level of professionalism you expect from them. Is this a jeans sort of a gig or a black tie affair?

Photographer's Assistants and Production Assistants

Photo Assistants are your right hand man (or woman). Your assist will not be working a camera (except to grab behind the scenes shots at your request). Your assistant is there to help move equipment, to feed the parking meter, to grab lunch, to stand in as a light test model, and any number of other things during a shoot.

Do not abuse your photo assistant. Definitely do not yell at them for not doing something the way you would do it. You can and should ask them for any sort of help, whether it be lowering or changing the angle on a light or grabbing a different lens from your bag. Above all, remember that a photo assistant is likely much less experienced than you are.

A good assistant will quickly learn how to operate your lights or the order in which to pack up your car. Although not required, it’s a nice gesture to thank an assistant with a bit of a mini-lesson on the drive home. Let them ask you questions about the shoot or share with them what went as expected or what diverged from the plan.

Production Assistants (PAs) are typically found on film crews, but occasionally you’ll see this person on a photo set. The job overlaps with the job of a photo assistant in some ways. A PA is generally an extra pair of hands on set. They may unload equipment, answer phones, help the stylist steam clothing, run out to buy a needed prop or tool, or just about anything else. A production assistant needs very little if any knowledge of photography. There is a great in-depth description of a PA job here: http://www.film.virginia.org/for-virginians/how-to-get-involved/be-a-production-assistant/

Digital Technicians

A Digital Technician (Digi Tech) has a pretty specialized role at a photoshoot. They deal with the technical/computer aspects of things. If you are shooting tethered (we’ll learn about this in lesson 3) your Digi Tech will operate the computer while you shoot, warning you of potential exposure errors, renaming and adding metadata to files, backing up to your external hard drive, etc. If you are not shooting tethered, your Digi Tech might be responsible for importing your cards, backing up, and reformatting. In either case, your Digi Tech will have the skills to quickly retouch or mock up a layout in order to give your client a better idea of the finished product.

My client was having a hard time visualizing this scene without a pool so I quickly grabbed one from online and dropped it into the shot.

 

At this particular shoot, I did not have a Digi Tech so I played that role myself. This final version uses a pool photo I had from another shoot. On another note, attention to detail is key to creating merges like this…I had my assistant water the cement just moments before I took this shot, to emulate a real pool deck.

 

How Crew Fits together

You might think of the roles like this:
Photographer - everything inside the camera and oversight of the whole shoot. Photo Assistant – everything going on in front of the lens (with the help of the stylists) Digi Tech – everything that happens behind the camera, after capture.

Any of the jobs we just discussed are also gigs for you as an emerging photographer. In some markets, you can assist full time and make a respectable wage. In others, you might find yourself in a mix of lead, second, and assisting roles.

In any of these roles, act professionally and be attentive and respectful to the photographer who hired you. By working all aspects of a set, you’ll get to earn money while you learn. You’ll watch other photographers in action and learn what to do (or not to do). You’ll make connections within the industry and move up the ranks.

The Dos and Don’ts

Here are some basic rules that apply for these jobs:
DO pay attention, anticipate needs, and DON’T play on your phone.
DO ask about the dress code and wear what is requested.
DO be professional. You are representing someone else’s business.
DO exchange cards with other crewmembers and express interest in referrals.
DO ask questions, especially if using equipment that you don’t understand.
DO take care of yourself. Days on set can be long…stay hydrated.
DO come prepared. Pack a small bag with tools or snacks you might need.
DO be friendly, positive, and personable.
DON’T steal clients. You are representing someone else’s business.
DON’T be unreliable or late. You’ll ruin your reputation quickly.
DON’T be overly talkative. A photographer should not need to wait for you.

If you follow the dos and don’ts, you’ll find your reputation as a good assistant will grow exponentially. You’ll get call backs, like my regular guy here. You’ll also get referrals…I refer him out to anyone who asks me for a recommendation, and to many people who don’t ask!

 

Lighting Situations continued

Avedon Lighting

Photographer Richard Avedon used such a characteristic lighting technique that it came to be known as Avedon Lighting.

Avedon’s lighting technique consisted of a pure white background and shadowless glamor lighting on the subjects. Photo by Richard Avedon

 

There are many ways to create an Avedon style set. First off, you’ll need a minimum of two lights on your background. You don’t want these to spill onto you subject, so you’ll also need some large flags. Up front, a single close, centered, and soft light source might do the trick. You might also work with a pair of lights, balanced on either side.

This schematic shows two background lights flagged to avoid spill, a model quite a significant distance from the background, and a single key light in the butterfly position. Variations on number and position of lights can create the same effect.

 

You can create a different effect with the same set up very easily. Turn off the lighting in front of your flags, leaving on only your background light. Now you’ve got a dramatic silhouette.

Lit only from behind, this portrait is about shape and line. It uses the same background light and flag setup as Avedon lighting. Here I’ve moved my model a bit closer to the background to give hints of detail in the shadows.

 

The same set, minus the background lights creates another look. The farther your subjects are from the background, the darker your background becomes.

In this image, my background lights misfired creating a different look. My model was far from the background and my lights were flagged so little light hit my white backdrop, turning it gray.

 

High and Low Key Photography

High Key and Low Key photographs aren’t lit with a certain arrangement of lights, but do warrant mention here. High Key photos are primarily bright photos and low-key photos are primarily darker tones.

In beginning photography classes you learn the rules of photography, including what creates a proper exposure and the importance of having a balanced histogram. As you advance, you learn how to break those rules for creative effect.

In many cases high key images are very over exposed, with shadow areas popping out of pure white backgrounds. In this case, my exposure is a little hot on the edges of my subject, but not so over exposed that I loose texture in the rest of the bride’s skin.

 

I’ve seen low-key images so underexposed that eyes float seemingly without faces. In this photo I’ve chosen to keep my exposure a little brighter.

 

Specialized Lighting Situations

Photographing Reflective Objects

Highly reflective objects like metal, glass, or polished items require special lighting attention in order to avoid glare or evidence of your set in the item being photographed.

In this shiny crown, the dark reflection in the front is a big distraction. After some experimenting, I discovered the dark spot was mostly a reflection of my dark floor. A piece of white foam board, leaning against my tripod legs blocked the floor and tripod, and added a little bit of fill as well.

 

The simplest solution to avoiding reflections is patience and attention to detail. Everything will reflect onto a shiny subject, the ceiling, the floors, your equipment, your face. If you are shooting a white or light colored object (like a silver ring), you’ll want to be wearing light colored clothing and perhaps even wrap your tripod and light stands in white sheets. The reverse is true in a dark shiny object. If you are wearing a white shirt, your reflection will stand out in a dark object.

A very easy way to reduce reflections and glare is through the use of a light tent. Essentially an opaque white box that you light from the outside with your subject inside, a light tent is a fairly amateur piece of equipment but incredibly useful in a studio.

A light tent reduces hot spots, glare, and reflection in shiny objects by creating even lighting on all sides.

 

When I began doing product photography, I shot this dog collar in a light tent. The results were passable but compositions were limited by the light tent strategy. You’ll notice the hotspots toward the left side of the collar and that some parts of the background are not fully white.

 

As you progress in your lighting skills, and if your subjects are larger, a light tent will prove impractical. However, you’ll usually create a similar effect using more sophisticated tools.

Most rental studios have white walls, floor, and ceiling as well as controllable lighting. As you can see from the photo below, my home studio has problematic black floors, lots of things hanging from my ceiling, and an uncontrollable wall of window lighting.

My home studio serves as a shooting space as well as a space to meet and woo clients. Most of my clients book me based on my personality and style so I want my space to make an impression that reflects me. This unique studio space is not always ideal for shooting but I’ve got all my furniture on wheels, allowing me to shoot in any spot I’d like.

 

When I shoot reflective objects in my studio I box myself into a temporary white room of seamless, foam core, and scrims on all sides, including floor and ceiling and then wrap my black equipment (and sometimes even my camera) in white material.

In this image, I wrapped my camera and tripod in white curtains and blocked all sides with either white foam core or scrims with lights behind. In the final set, I had replaced the yellow edged scrims with white edged ones and had put a white board on top as well.

 

It is almost impossible to remove all reflections of yourself from an image, especially if you are shooting very close with a macro lens. Try to locate the reflections in a pleasing area of your composition or in an easily retouched spot. Just slight shifts of the camera or tilts of the object will often produce big changes.

In this image I found it impossible to remove the reflection of my lens. I took care to keep it off of any vital textures for easy retouching.

 

Photographing Glass (or clear plastic)

Glass objects pose a particular lighting challenge. Not only do you have to deal with the reflections we mentioned in the last section, you also have a clear object to contend with.

Lighting glass is usually referred to as either white line or black line lighting. Compositions with highlights emphasizing the edges are called white line lighting. Compositions with dark/black edges are referred to as having black line lighting.

Typical examples of white and black line lighting.

 

White line lighting is created by having a black background and white fill cards reflecting from the sides. Black line is created by using black flags reflecting from the sides. In either case, bouncing light from the cards rather than pointing light directly on your glass object will reduce reflections/glare.

Backlighting (bouncing light directly at your background and letting the background do the rest) or sidelighting also avoids reflections and creates nice edges on your glass.

This light test shows the effects of a single sidelight and a background light.

 

For this final image on the left, a dark tabletop combined with a sidelight and a background light creates a complex lighting style. Also notice here, the final photo seems to be shot on a nice set. In actuality, a few whitewashed 2x4s create the background and some loose flooring panels create a tabletop.

 

Adding a reflection to your subject

Adding reflection to your images is a fairly simple process and can take your photos up a notch.

This image builds on black line lighting by introducing another fun lighting effect, mirror images or reflections of your subject. In this case, the background was white, but the surface the glass rests on was shiny black.

 

Creating a mirror reflection starts with shooting on the right surface. You’ll need a high gloss surface like Plexiglas, acrylic, or glass. A black surface usually gives the most dramatic results.

Shooting glass usually uses side or back lighting and luckily for you, this is the best light for creating mirror reflections as well! If you aren’t shooting a reflective object, a little fill light in front will help.

For this subject, I shot on white Plexiglas with a white seamless. I was able to use fill light to open up the shadows, but lost some contrast in my reflection so I bumped that up in postproduction.

 

The un-retouched version of my above example.

 

Nice reflections can even be created with OCF if given the right circumstances. At weddings I am often able to find super shiny countertops with ambient backlight. A bit of fill flash and I’ve got an interesting shot of a ring or a boutonniere.

 

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