{"id":1297,"date":"2025-06-06T15:52:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irismag.uk\/?p=1297"},"modified":"2025-06-06T16:36:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T15:36:34","slug":"mastering-light-like-a-pro-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/irismag\/2025\/06\/06\/mastering-light-like-a-pro-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastering Light like a Pro Photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Often when people are unsatisfied with their photos they may point the blame towards their camera. Of course your gear matters to a degree and your camera might be crap, but this likely isn\u2019t the root cause for why your photos don\u2019t pop in the way you want them to. The reason many overlook however is the importance of lighting. Iris Magazine wanted to find out how you can become an expert in photography<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In photography, lighting is crucial. Without good lighting your photos will likely become dull and flat. Jamie Carmichael<\/a>, a Sheffield based photographer and lighting expert says: \u201c60% of photography is about lighting. If you’ve not got good lighting, then your photos won’t look great.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamie Carmichael\u2019s career has really evolved after working in the industry for almost a decade. He earned his first studio job, working for Burton: \u201cI worked in a studio just working on flat ecom shots, it was really boring work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His lighting has developed dramatically since the days of Burton thanks to his curiosity and desire to learn and grow as an artist: \u201cWhen I finished a day of work I stayed behind for an hour or so, moving the lights around to see how I could make the lights look better, but they didn\u2019t like it so I realised I needed to get out of there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This desire to push the creative boundaries in studios has continued through his career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember bringing something to my boss when I was working Halifax thinking maybe we can try this way, he wasn’t very accepting of it, but after a while, he agreed that it did look better, I was still quite young then.So looking back now, it was still crap. But at the time, I thought I was the dog’s bollocks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His decision to leave Burton allowed Jamie to spread his wings creatively: \u201cMy career changed from being very basic to quite creative in ten years. I’ve done loads of, like, free test shoots, spending hours with one model with one outfit and just trying different positions and lighting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since starting his career he has been hooked by this side of photography, dedicating hours to the studio: “It can be tiring but I love it, I will be in at six in the morning testing for two hours before I shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this commitment there is always room to grow: \u201cI feel like I’m never gonna master it because there’s always going to be someone asking you for something different that you’ve never done before, and you have to work out how you\u2019re going to achieve it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jamie’s studio photos are dramatic yet grungy, as his models often pop out from dark ominous backgrounds. A lighting setup is detailed and can seem complex to begin with, it\u2019s important to develop a basic understanding of what everything does: Learning little things like how to use reflectors and polyboards is key.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this terminology might sound confusing and foreign, so what does it all do? Well polyboard is used to absorb and reflect light: \u201cWhite poly board will bounce light back and if you turn it around to a black polyboard, that’s how you can create contrast.\u201d And reflectors do what they say on the tin, they reflect light: \u201cI like putting a light above, so having a reflector below, is gonna cast that light back into the face, that is probably the best way that I use reflectors because\u00a0when you’ve got a hard light coming from above them the reflector, creates this soft glow in the face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The lighting setup varies from each shoot to the next depending on the clients. \u201cI’ve played around with different lighting for different clients and I’ll have a few ideas of what lighting I want for each shoot so I’d always have, like one look that I’m going for and\u00a0then if\u00a0 client doesn’t like it, then I’ll have a second option that I can do because a lot of it, especially for a client, will have a mood board and with 15 different lighting techniques on there so I’d always try and plan, have a bit of knowledge about setting something else up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This information and demand for different lighting can be confusing and intimidating: \u201cWhen I started I didn’t I didn’t have a clue. It took me weeks to learn everything. I feel like everyone’s intimidated at the start but don’t be scared. If something doesn\u2019t look right, take your time, or change it. If something takes an hour to set up, then it takes take an hour to set up and if the client is in a rush, tell them you need the time just to set up and make it look good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you’re, like, feeling a bit intimidated by it you can learn a lot by assisting for free alongside doing test shoots for modelling agencies.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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