[guide] ----- D70 in the Studio: Portrait with Strobes

[guide] ----- D70 in the Studio: Portrait with Strobes

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Intro
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Studio strobes -- and electronic flash in general -- open up great possibilities to the photographer. While I greatly prefer to work with natural light when at all possible, and generally dislike the use of flash, the flexibility and creative opportunities of controlled lighting is undeniable.

Despite the daunting hurdles associated with a studio setup, the basics are actually fairly simple and the results quite rewarding. Even a simple studio setup empowers the photographer to meticulously design nearly every aspect of an image, starting with the foundation of so many images, light.

This is brief guide in the which I'll cover some of the basic technical issues involving studio photography with the Nikon D70, using one portrait image as an example.

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The Image
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I shot the displayed image a few weeks ago. While I would have preferred to shoot in natural light, scheduling conflicts with the model only allowed for a night session. So, I dusted off my strobes and tried to remember how to use them.*

The rest of this guide is broken down into the following sections:

1 / Equipment
2 / Lighting Setup: Technical
3 / Lighting Setup: Design
4 / Light Modifiers
5 / Triggering the Strobes
6 / Metering & Exposure
7 / Conclusion
8 / Samples