Transcripts
1. Lighting Tips & Tricks Intro: Hi Skillshare family. Welcome to his lighting class. My name is Derek,
and today I will guide you through a
few tips and tricks to help you step up your
game when it comes to lighting your shots in
filming and in photography? No, no, no, no, nothing like
this to elevate your game and promote your name when it comes to your branding
and to your business, you need shots like this, like can be created right in your living room using
only three lights. I've been working in the
industry for the past ten years. And I started out as a 3D
artists for visual effects, then moved on to become a videographer for various
projects to light up, for modelling, to light
our four products. And here I am today
sharing with you all those tips I learned
in my professional career. During this class,
I'm going to show you two short break downs to see how each light contributes
to create the whole scene. Number one, we're going to focus on an artistic approach like a fine art of a statue
of a product on a table. Number two, we're
going to explore the clamshell technique that's especially used in fashion. Beautify your model to bring up your face in the light
it up and make it shine. And at the end of this class, I'm going to share with you
how I created this shot right here using only three lights
in my own living room. We have the key light
right here shining. I've been bringing the
main source of lighting. We have the practical light
right here behind me, making orange ambiance in
the background of the room. And we have a fill
light to the side, projecting an orange rim
light to the side to make it look like the practical is
affecting me right here. Let's get started For
lighting tips and tricks.
2. Class Project for Lighting Tips: Welcome everyone. The project for this
lighting class is to help you recreate a short just like this one talking
to you right now. This is called a
talking head shot. You probably use shots like
this to deliver your content, to host classes
here on Skillshare, or to teach tutorials elsewhere. And I want to help you recreate a lighting setup just like this to elevate the quality
of your content. Now for the class project, I would like you to
upload a photo of writing the project gallery so I can provide some
feedback for you. And the project is to
recreate a shot just like this one in your own home
using some studio lights. It doesn't matter if you're
a beginner or an expert. The aim here is to
share and interact with each other the
shots we created so we can learn and get some
tips from each other. So this steps to
take this project. First of all, we need a
controlled environment. Choose a room in your
household that has blinds on the windows or curtains so you can get complete darkness, pitch black so we can
start building up, enlightening up from there. Step number two is to get
your light setup the gear. I'm going to show you right here the main key light
that I'm using, a GoTalk V L1 50. He has a grid on it with a large soft box and
the grid helps to bring the light only on me and has an have less spill
on the background. So this slide is
more controlled, more on this subject. So the second light I'm using is a practical light right here. You'll have one of these
in your household. It doesn't matter if
it's white or orange. Wave in blue, find something to place in the
background that can also project some texture to create a nice
interesting backdrop. You can also combine
that with plants, household plants that you have. You can create some nice
interesting shadows on the wall behind you. The third layer that I'm
using is a sidelight, is an LED, in this
case, small LED, and I added a gel on
it and orange gel, so we can get this
kind of orange color. Now if your practical
light is white, you will remove these jokes. We can get a nice
wide rim right here. If it's blue, you
put a blue gel, play with it accordingly
for this shot, for this creation, it's orange. Now for step number three, you're going to follow me
behind the scenes so I can show you the whole
setup to show you where I'm sitting down so
you can understand the context in a wide shot. Let's get to it. So
this is the behind the scenes welcome
into the space. You can see the practical and
the LED light back there. And if I rotate it around, you can see the grid light. So this is the whole thing, nice and wide from top center where I sit
as like a place holder. And you can see right here
we have the LED light. If I take a direct line, I can see that the huge softbox
is exactly opposite it. So you see in the
behind the scenes on how this thing was created, the important thing
to take off from this class project
is that you create this diagonal line with your
lights, not side-to-side. Otherwise you'll just get a
shadow here in the middle. Keep it a little bit more diagonal so you
can get light from the main light to the
side of your face and a tiny light here. This is known as the rebrand
triangle that you get a nice tiny highlight
on your cheek. And then you compensate or
you complement more like with a rim light here to the side and make sure you use your
practical in the background. Do I invite you to upload a
photo in the project gallery? I'll provide some feedback
to you so you can learn. So we can grow and elevate and step up the game when
it comes to your shots. See you in the next lesson.
3. Tabletop Lighting Tips & Breakdown: Welcome to the first lesson, lighting tips and tricks. I'm sharing this with you
because the light matters. So why is lighting important? Because the world around
us will not be visible? Why is good lighting important and more
accurate question? This is to make our shots. Are videos or photos look professional and appealing
to our audience. E.g. the image on the left is a short without lights,
completely blank. We cannot sell this,
we cannot promote this. Let's compare this. So which image were to
click on even better? Which image will stop
you from scrolling? Today's world, the
audience attention span is getting shorter and shorter, so we have to act
smart and fast. Image number one, was
you click on this one. Image number two, or would
you click on this one? Which of the two
which you click on? I am guessing and I'm hoping
you chose this second. So let's break down this
show now so we can see how the light is
affecting the scene. This is completely off. All the lights are off. And we start up by lighting up the subtle key light on
the right-hand side. Moving on, you can see I added
colors in the background, only one light here. And the core element I added here to create
this kind of texture in the background is
adding up a tree or a plant to create
and cast shadows. You can see here it's
just a silhouette. Only the light in the background
is lit up right here. And I've removed the plant
or removed the tree. So you can see
there's no texture, no casting on the background and we can see the difference. So if I go back right here, you can see the only
thing I moved here is the the plant itself so I can cast the shadows
in a different way. So now let's move on. We have the background, we have the key light on this statue in this
shot in particular, I added the on the left
here we can see a light. This helps us a tiny
light that helps create depth and
distance in our shots. Moving on. An accent or rim light from the left to
support the fill light, the depth delight that
we added from before. So we can see here that. And then rim, you can
see the difference. And then I added a tiny light, a small light behind the
statue just to give it a small extra pop to make it and help it separate
from the background. Now, I'll show you
this all these one-by-one in a sequential order at the end of this class, so we can see how they move, how they interact
with each other. So in this shot in particular
that we just break down, you might think
that it's a bit of an overkill because there's
just too many lights. But indeed, too many lights can often cause trouble
than good, right? And that is why at the
end of this video, I will show you a
technique on how to use only three lights
and to light up just shot light for good
by using sparingly. In my professional career, I like lysine up the
shot one light at a time and I added the
key light and then I play with the rim light
on the opposite side. And then slowly, slowly I see
how I can combine my shot. And I know when I went too far and I have to remove
light rather than add. So one-by-one is the
technique to go. So moving on, here's the
breakdown in a sequential order. You can scroll this
back and forth if you need to speak and see
how it looks like. And coming up next, we're going to see
a quick class on how we draw a line so we can direct the eye of the viewer towards the
center of the image. Let's get to it.
4. Lines to Direct Your Viewers Eye: Welcome to this lesson, which is all about guiding the audience eye
towards your image, towards where you want
them to see on your image. So you can see, we're going to have
a breakdown here of another image using
the same statue. Here we have a background
light just to give some ambiance to
the scene itself. Moving on, we have
a direction light. We can see there's a line
casting through the image. And then a key light
just to illuminate this subject itself to make it a little bit more appealing. And then a soft fill light from the left to
soften in the shadows. I can show you the
difference here. The shadows here a
little bit darker. There's more contrast
is more dramatic. Not too important.
You can choose between these two options. The main element of this
breakdown itself is the line behind this statue that helps bring your eye to
the center of the image. Now, Gobo, you might have heard of this term
in your industry, in your professional career. Gobo is short for
go-between optics. And there's two
ways you can apply this effect in your shots. One is using a phone board to occlude part of
the light source. You can see the image right
here on the right has a huge foam board on the table. And there's a light come in here from the left in this direction. And it's casting
onto the foam board. And it's only letting half
of it out to pass through enlight up is subject
right here at the center of the table. This is technique number one. You can use a foam
board to occlude light. Technique number two
is using a gobo lens. This lens, you can
strap it and put it on top of your light. And you can put filters
on it and you can choose what shapes or lines you can
cast through your light, through your spotlight,
onto the subject itself. You can see here the difference. This is a global land is a more defined direction of
line towards the subject, towards your statue or
towards your product. And here I'm using a foam board, which is a little bit more spilling the light
across a scene. I prefer this, it
looks more natural, more, more organic in a
way, and less technical. So that's it important to guide the eyes of
your audience onto your subject to create lines can also be done with other
lights in your scene. You know, with
prospective photography, you can still work with bringing a line to a subject
with lighting. This is how you do it. Coming up next, I have
more tips for you, quick and easy so you can
apply in your shots and you're filming and you're
photography's. Let's get to it.
5. Lighting Quick Tips & Tricks: Let's get started
For quick tips to make your shots
pop nice and easy. So this tip is all about
adding a glow behind your subject so you can help it separate from the
background itself. This also helps to direct
the viewer towards the center of the image
because it's creating a shape. Shapes and eyes are
drawn to each other. And this shine in the
background helps to make your object pop
to stand out from the image and separated from the background
in particular. So we can have an example here, an easy example of
an apple before and after using the shine
behind the subject. This is before, this is after. Let me do this again. Before. After. You can see is adding
a shine to make these subjects separate
from the background. Now that we're talking about apples and food in particular, let me show you a
quick tip that we seriously elevate your game when it comes to
food photography. There's a substance here
that I like to call Mr. Shine. You can use a spray
bottle, spray water bottle, and you add a ratio
here of glycerin, 30% of water, 70%,
and you shake it out. Now glycerin is like a syrup. They can find in stores. You mix it up with water and
then you grab this liquid, you grab this mixture
and you spray it on food to make it look more
appealing and more fresh. This can also be
applied on cans on soft drinks to make them
look really appealing, to make them look
like you're thirsty and you really want
to drink them. So let's check out examples. Here's an apple without the
spray, without Mr. shine. And here it is, width,
no light difference, nothing changed except me spraying this mixture
onto the apple itself. Let's go back without and width, which Apple would
you rather eat? Look at it. It just makes it look fresh and makes it look ready and edible. That's it for today's lesson. Quick tips to apply
in your own workflow. Moving on next,
we're gonna go into portrait lighting and
I'm going to show you a breakdown on how we
apply the clamshell technique.
6. Portrait Lighting Clamshell Technique: Welcome to this lesson
about portraits, but I'll show you how to
make your models shiny using the clamshell technique
with a breakdown on how each light is
affecting up this subject. So having here the clamshells
technique is called a clam shell because you simply have a pearl in the middle, your model, your subject, and then the shelves
closing it in, making it look appealing,
beautifying it. Think of this as Venus or Aphrodite in the climate
itself or in the clam shell. And you'll want to elevate it to make it look like a painting. Let's break down this
shot right here. You can see here simple
removal of a rim light. This light comes from the
back that's adding a shine to the hairline itself
back and forth. Then we move forward where a switch off the
lights in the background. You can see here I use a
similar technique that I've used in the previous shot
with a statue on a table. I've added a plant, I've added a light with
a gels and then a cast onto the wall itself to make this interesting
texture on the background. So we can add some interests
in the whole image itself. So now when it comes to
the clamshell lighting, this show that we see right
here has only two lights. The low light that comes
down towards the chin, and the light comes
from above, right? Two lights only. Top light, you can see
a soft illumination on. It's all part of this
model right here. And you can see the lower light that comes down towards
the chin, right? So how was this
thing constructed? I can show you here in
this image on the left, you can see this subject
sitting on the chair. And there's two lights. One comes from above, top light, which should be around
60 to 70% intensity. The low light as
smaller softbox, if you have one available, can be around ten
to 30% intensity. Now, these numbers
are not fixed, but as a general rule of thumb, the top light is always
brighter than the lower. Play with these numbers and see what works best for your model, for the skin colors,
for the skin tones, and for your
environment in general. So the background light on how I illuminate it and
created a texture. You can see here from the
left we have a rim light, which I added to create a shine onto the
side of the model. And I added a Fresnel
lens on this so I can soften it and
make it less harsh, less harsh shadows
onto the subject. A Fresnel lens is
this one right here. You can also attach
gels onto it, so give them color. And I like this because
you have the flexibility to soften the shadows
onto the subject itself. And I've used this in
both setups, right? We have a rim light
with a Fresnel and solve it to soften the
rim light onto the model. For the background itself
to create a texture on the background without
a Fresnel, right? Just a spotlight to create
a bit more harsher shadows. This is not strict. We can
also add a Fresnel lens. So choose which options works best for you, spotlight
or Fresnel's. But the main important
aspect that you should add here is a house plant. Most of you have some
lying around in the house. It should be tall
enough so you can use it to occlude the light itself. And with that, you get a nice
shadow cast onto the wall. And you play with a light, moving it around so you can see how the shadows are cast
onto the wall itself. And by moving the light closer and further away from the plan, you help create the shadows to make them softer or harsher. So that's it for this lesson. Coming up next, I'm going
to show you how I created this shot right here
using only three lights. Nice and easy. Let's get to it.
7. Talking Head Behind the Scenes: Welcome to this last lesson
of this lighting class. I'm going to show you
how I constructed this three light setup right
here in my own living room. We're going to target one
light at a time so you can see how each
affects the scene. The subjects. We'll start with the first
key light right now, the main light right here. So you can see now the
main light is off. There's only the
background light illuminating me and some
rim light here to the side. We're going to go ahead
now and switch off the fill light
here on this side. So the only thing
remaining right now, practical light here
in the background, we're going to switch
that off as well. So now we're in
complete darkness. You don't see the short, we'll roll up the blinds
as one as we can see how the living room looks
in a normal environment. So this isn't the environment. All the lights are off. I've rolled up the
blinds so we can see the natural light coming in. You can see there's no
illumination on me. The short is quite dark. And we're going to
reconstruct these now one by one to show you practically and guiding
you how to switch on the light one-by-one
to see the effect. Blinds first roll down. So now in complete darkness, nothing is visible as sort
of a controlled environment. We're going to switch
on the key light, the one in the front. So you can see right
now the light is on the main source
hitting me, only me. And by using the grid that
I've shown you before, you can see that the light
only spills on the subject, on me and less on
the background. If I remove the grid, which I will do so actually, so I can show you the difference
with the background 1 s. So check out this difference. I just remove the grid, no change in the light
direction in the intensity. Just remove the grid. I can see all the
background is wiped out with a lot of Leiden and spill. And I'm going to put
the grid back on. We'll switch on the next slide. So here it is, only the key
light with the grid on. I've shown you already how it looks like without the grid, everything spills
in the background. And now we're gonna go ahead and switch on the practical lights. We can see how that pops and create an ambience
in the scene itself. So you can see
practical now is on. We have the main light casts in here and the
practical and to connect both together so they can seamlessly blend in
one environment. We're going to
switch on the side, fill out here to the side. So you can see now, we can see
the ruler here on a spill. The whole scene is
connected and it's kinda shown that we are
in one environment. The practical and the silo
hear offscreen is helping create the effect here on the right and the kilos
illuminating the subject. Also the practical here is creating an ambience
for the background. So we can have an
interesting texture. Right here in the back, is
only using three lights. There's definitely
room for improvement. You can add more
likely if you need to. But just for the sake
of simplicity, three, license enough just
to get your message across because you can promote your brand and
build up your name using a nice, cool looking shot. Thank you so much for joining
me. How a beautiful day.
8. Congrats! Let's light Away: Well done on
finishing this class. I would like to thank
you for joining me and trust me to share
this tips with you. Then this light in class so far we have covered, number one, we targeted table lighting for products on how to create a
nice setup. One at table. Number two, I've
shared tips regarding the glow behind your
subject and also the glycerin spray on
the RPO so we can get food photography more appealing to make them look more edible. Number three, we've
seen ported likely using the clamps or
technique one light up, one leg down to
illuminate a subject like the URL inside
the clamshell. Number four, I've shown you how to create a
setup right here. The same shot that you're
looking at me right now, this talking head shot
using three lights, key light, practical and
decide fill light right here. And if there's one
thing I would like to take away with you from this class is to simplify
your lighting setup. Use a controlled environment
for your talking head shots. Main key light to
illuminate just you. And then in the background
you can play with a practical light and the side in order to
create something simple, yet appealing and professional
so you can deliver your content in a better
way towards your audience. Now I invite you to elbow their photo in the
project gallery. Use a similar lighting setup
like this one right here, does grow a photo uploading
the project gallery and I'll provide some feedback and I can guide you from there. Let's all share with each other. Now, if you enjoyed this class, Let's share the love
and rider review below. How did this lighting class help you and benefit
you as a creator? What was your favorite? Follow me for more clauses
in the future to come. Thank you so much
for joining me. Have a beautiful day full
of life. See you next time.
Derek Doritis, Designer & Yoga Teacher
