When lighting for photography, the goal is to have an even exposure throughout the room with no hot spots or deep shadows. This is especially difficult when lighting interior rooms where furniture, possessions, windows or other architectural features can create uneven lighting conditions naturally. Professional photographers achieve even lighting through the use of off-camera strobe flashes.
Instructions
1. Set up a main light to throw illumination over the room. Add a second light to "cross-light" your room. Cross lighting is simply one or more strobe flashes set up to illuminate the room from the side of your photo. The side illumination helps to make furniture and room features stand out. This will make your photo seem more three-dimensional.
2. Set your camera for a wide depth of field. This can be achieved by using a 50 mm lens, a long exposure time and a narrow aperture on your camera.
3. Use your light meter to adjust both the strobes and the camera. Use the type of light meter that will give you, based on your camera's settings, the relative brightness of the light. You can then adjust either your camera or the brightness of your strobe lights to give a more even exposure.
4. Take a test shot with your digital camera to determine any remaining shadows in the room. If you're using a film camera, you'll need to take more readings with your meter. To do this, set your meter in any nooks, crannies and corners, and take a reading while setting off the strobe flashes. If your meter shows that the area is darker than the rest of the room, this area is a shadowed area. Another solution is to take a "test roll" of film. Deliver this film to a one-hour processing store for a quick turnaround time. Your developed pictures will reveal any shadowed areas.
5. Focus your lights to illuminate any remaining shadows for a more even exposure. Take special care to ensure that your equipment is not visible in the photograph.
6. Note architectural features that may cause unusual shadows, such as staircases, chimneys, lamps or sculptures. Set up a strobe to remove those shadows.
7. Try to flood out any light from alternate sources by covering it with a strobe. This includes tungsten or sodium lights that may be in use in the home. Hallways and open doors to other rooms are a major culprit for this kind of lighting.
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