Are professional photographers becoming so consumed with outside shots and natural light that they are forgetting what a powerful tool backdrops and studio lighting can be?
Of course, there is a lot to be said for natural light and natural settings-especially with today's digital cameras and their high ISO capabilities. They allow for far higher creative latitude than the older cameras ever did. With the new capabilities, we can shoot acceptable images in near-darkness. This in itself is a wonderful tool. It increases greatly the outside window of time where great shots can be made as well as allowing the addition of artificial lighting to compose wonderful dramatic portraits that have been nearly impossible to achieve in the not so distant past.
My main point:
Is that while these capabilities are great, we mustn't lose sight of the main advantages of backdrops and studio lighting. First and foremost is Control. There are many elements we can control with a studio backdrop. First of course, is color. We can pick a color to be neutral, to complement a particular skin tone, to go with a particular wardrobe. We can use them to set a mood, we have great latitude with how a particular backdrop looks in the finished image. We can make it look lighter or darker by simply changing shutter speed or F-stop or ISO. If we want to create a realistic location, it is easy today to simply find an image of the location we want and order a custom printed backdrop that fits our vision perfectly and eliminates the sometimes impossible task of moving our studio to a location shoot.
That being said, there is a lot to recommend high quality studio lighting. There is of course many good studio light systems to choose from and of course, the big debate still remains as to whether strobe or continuous light is preferable. Again, with the capabilities of the new cameras, it is pretty much personal taste. I prefer strobe but that is what I learned on. The main thing all of them afford you is again- Control! the ability to control the amount of light on your subject and where it falls. As I said above, I am in no way advocating the exclusive use of backdrops and studio lighting. I just feel we need to feel free to experiment and use all the tools at our disposal to create good pictures.
Brad "Doc" Owen
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