Ultra Cheap Lighting Part 4

by Mickey Rountree

Let’s forget about speedlites, strobes and reflectors, and talk about some really cheap lighting – candles. With a little attention to detail, and the sensitivity of modern sensors, it is fairly easy to shoot good portraits by candle light.

By their nature, candles aren’t very bright. So to increase the light, keep these points in mind; the closer the light, the brighter, and the more candles the brighter. Remember you’re working with open flames, so watch out for burning hair, skin, clothes or any nearby flammable materials. Have the candles securely mounted so they won’t fall and ignite your model or home. Having a fire extinguisher close at hand would be a good idea.

People look best with light coming from slightly above the face. Lighting from below the face results in “monster lighting” and while it may be the natural position of a candle it’s not often flattering. I prefer to have my model hold the candelabra and move it around until I like the light on the face. And I should mention to shoot in an otherwise dark room. Even dim household lighting will completely overpower candle light.

The color temperature of candles is low on the Kelvin scale. You might try auto white balance (AWB) or I usually set tungsten balance in the camera. Regardless of your camera setting you will most likely have to adjust the color balance in post processing. You can make this much easier and more accurate by shooting a shot with the model holding a gray card at the start of your session and using that to set your white balance for all of the shots in post processing.

You will most likely need to use a very high ISO like 3200, 6400 or even higher, and be at a wide aperture to be able to hand hold. Just realize and accept that there will be some noise in your images. If you have a choice use a tripod but remember that while a tripod will hold your camera steady at slow shutter speeds, your subject may move and be blurred. Try to keep your shutter speeds above 1/30 sec or preferably 1/60.