First Photography Lesson

• Small round cone is called a spill cone.
• Beauty dish gives off harsh light because it is directional.
• Bouncing light is an effective way of creating softer light. 
• The light bulb on a light is called a modelling light and is used to show where the light is going. 

Light Meter:

• A light meter shows how much light is coming out and tells you what the exposure on your camera should be. It shows the shutter speed, which always stays the same, and the aperture which is important. 

• Turn the light meter on and hold down the button that says ISO. This needs to be at 100 on the meter and on the camera also. 
• Press the mode button and scroll through until you get to the lightning bolt with a ‘C’ next to it. 
• The big white slider must be closed. 
• Sync leads plug into the light meter. Press the top button on light and it should do a little flash. 
• The white dome measures the light, so make sure that it is facing the light when using it. It also needs to be at the same distance from the light as the face. Therefore you can hold it next to the face or under the chin. 
• The number on the meter gives the number that you need to set the aperture on your camera to for the correct exposure. 
• 5.6 and 8 are what you should use. 
• If you don’t get these numbers, adjust the brightness of the flash.
• If you get a half number, this can be used for brighter skin which is sometimes a more desirable look. 
• Make sure the model is always standing in the right place. You can place gaff tape on the floor to make sure that they never stray from this position. 

Bouncing the Light:

•  Face the light towards the wall, and make sure that the model is facing the back of the light. The position of the light meter wont change, it is still next to the face facing the light. 
• Turn the musical note button off on the light. This is the noise of the beep and can be annoying for others working around you. 
• On the flash, the picture of the eye is called a slave, this makes it go off when other lights are on and this is only needed when you are working with multiple lights. 

• Moving the light around when using a single light setup- use a Lastolite. Gold and stripy ones are also available. 
• Polyboard- Giant reflector that you can put just outside a shot to reflect the light.