A Short Course Book
Using Your Digital Camera
A Guide To Great Photographs

Portrait and Product Photography—Introduction

Most photographers without studios use continuous lights that usually have three parts—stands, reflectors, and bulbs.
  • A rim light is placed quite high and behind the subject to highlight edges and separate the subject from the background.


  • Moving a light back hardens its light, while moving it closer softens it. By moving a light farther away, you also reduce the light it illuminates the subject with. On strobes, you do it by adjusting the light's intensity. On continuous lights you can do the same with a dimmer switch. You can have one light illuminate the subject with more intensity than another light. The difference between the two lights is called the lighting ratio.
  • Positioning the light at an angle to the subject will make the light uneven over the subject with the part closest to the light getting more light. The exposure will only be correct for those at one distance—normally those in the area metered by the autoexposure system. Parts of the setup located farther from the light source will be increasingly darker the farther away they are.

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