Setting exposure is critical to taking good pictures.
After you have set up and positioned your studio lights in the location you want, the next step is to set the exposure. Studio lights are powerful and depending on the type of lights you are using the amount of power they produce can be adjusted. Setting the exposure can be done using a hand-held flash meter that will give you an exact light reading. If you do not own a flash meter you can also set the exposure through test shots with your digital camera.
Instructions
1. Turn on the studio lights, set the main light to full power and set the two fill lights to half the power setting of the main light.
2. Position your subject or model and connect the flash sync cord to your digital camera.
3. Turn your digital camera on and set the ISO (light sensitivity) to its lowest setting. Depending on the camera you are using this step may be slightly different. On digital single lens reflex cameras you can do this by pressing the ISO button located either on the top or back of the camera and turning the dial located near the shutter release until the ISO number reaches its lowest point. Since studio lights put out so much power, you can use a low ISO and get pictures with a good color profile.
4. Set the exposure mode to "Manual" and set the shutter speed to 125th of a second. Set the aperture to f5.6.
5. Take a test picture and review the image on the rear LCD (liquid crystal display) screen on the back of the camera. Adjust the shutter speed and or aperture to improve the exposure. Most digital cameras have a maximum shutter flash sync speed of 250th of a second. This is the fastest setting you can set the camera to in order for it work correctly with the studio lights.
6. Take a second test shot, review the picture and make further adjustments. If your camera has a "Detail" setting in review mode for the LCD screen, turn this on. This will show potential blown out highlights in your picture, by having the blown highlights blink in the review screen. Adjust your exposure until these blown highlights are gone.
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