The Lost Art of Photographic Lighting
It was the one topic that was never taught in photojournalism classes. Other than the basic four basic positions (front, side, back and rim) lighting was never a subject that seems of any importance. Maybe it was just the time in journalism that was the reason.
While attending the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas in the early 1970’s, black and while photography was still the king of photojournalism, and the use of natural light was queen. No respected photojournalist ever used a strobe; you just pushed the ASA of Tri-X by mixing up some good old Acufine developer.
The use of strobes for creative lighting never became important till I left the hallowed halls of newspaper photography, and entered the world of a freelance corporate and editorial photographer.
My education in location lighting came through the school of trial and error.
Lugging around a newly acquired set of Novatron (also known as NovaBomb because the power packs tended to explode now and then) strobes, my first attempts at lighting were trials filled with errors. I was trying to use strobe light in situations to make them look natural, instead of using the strobes to enhance the natural light. Everything turned out rather flat and boring.
But as the jobs kept coming, I kept lugging the Novatron’s all over the world. I was gradually learning what worked and what didn’t. I was also learning how to use the strobes to effectively create moods, enhance existing light and flatter a person’s facial features. In essence I was learning the real art of lighting.
In the late 1980’s I discovered a portable self-contained lighting system called Lumedyne being manufactured out of Florida. It was quick to set up, fast, very durable and was more in-tuned to my style of shooting. It allowed me to creatively place my light source.
Still shooting film, I used the light as a supplement to the Dynalite system that replaced my Novatron’s. It wasn’t till the introduction of the digital camera that the importance of the self contained off camera strobe became more important than the large watt second electrical strobe systems.
The digital age allowed the use of existing natural light, even in very low light situations.
No longer did a location photographer have to pack five cases of lights to shoot in a dimly lit factory. Instead, the combination of natural light and a limited number of portable units strategically placed, created in minutes what used to take hours with large power packs and cords hidden in every conceivable place.
As digital cameras improved in quality and light-sensitivity, professional photographers have opted more and more to drop the use of off camera strobes completely, using at most a small fill on the camera when needed, a technique that almost every amateur digital camera is capable of achieving. The watchwords of today have become, “I’ll fix it in Photoshop later.”
Photography for me is still the art of creating in camera. I am distressed when often not given the time to adequately light a situation. To this day I always lug the Lumedynes with me on every assignment I shoot, popping them up on pipelines, oilrigs, factories or on models and in places they probably were never designed to go.
Whether to flatter an unflattering feature, add a touch of light in a dark place, or to create drama in a boring situation, the use of creative photographic lighting in this digital age is still an important feature for the truly profession photographer.
Maybe we have come full circle from my early days as a journalism student using only natural light. Everything that’s old does become new again. There is no right or wrong in photography, especially location photography. Although to truly do justice to the craft one must have all the tools, even if it means lugging around an extra case of lighting equipment all over the world.
