Understanding Lighting Ratios

Westcott Top Pro Elite photographer and educator Erin Manning discusses lighting ratios and set-ups utilizing the Erin Manning Home Studio Lighting Kit in this Westcott video tutorial. Lighting ratios are the differences in contrast shown in images, displayed by highlights and shadows. Throughout this tutorial, Erin demonstrates 1:1, 2:1, and 4:1 lighting ratios with her subjects. By simply placing a main light and adjusting a fill light, any photographer can observe the differences in highlights and shadows without the use of a light meter. By placing the fill light and the main light close to her subject at an equal distance, Erin demonstrates the 1:1 light ratio. This set-up eliminates a majority of shadows and is useful when wanting to even skin tone and diminishing imperfections. By pulling the fill light back about 6-inches, Erin creates a 2:1 lighting ratio. This ratio adds shadows and creates subtle contrast. By backing up the fill light even more, Erin demonstrates the 4:1 lighting ratio, which adds dramatic dimension and contrast in an image.

Erin Manning is a professional photographer, author, educator, and media personality. Television viewers know Erin best as the digital photography expert and host of DIY Network’s Telly Award-winning TV series The Whole Picture. She is also author of  the books Portrait and Candid Photography and Make Money With Your Digital Photography.  She serves on the Board of Directors for the Digital Imaging Marketing Association and is a member of American Photographic Artists, Women in Photography International, and the Los Angeles Digital Imaging Group, whose purpose is dedicated to advancing the art and science of digital imaging.

The Erin Manning Home Studio Lighting Kit is an all-inclusive uLite kit from Westcott Lighting. This kit includes a two uLite constant lights, two 85-watt Flourescent lamps, two 20″ collapsible softboxes, two 6′ light stands, and an educational DVD hosted by Erin Manning. The uLite is one of the first collapsible softboxes designed to give you the amazing light quality of a traditional style softbox, without the tedious set up. With one simple push, your softbox takes form and locks into place. Although the uLites are designed to be compact in nature, they project an extremely broad area of light coverage. Basically, you can light a larger area with a smaller box. This is achieved by placing the removable diffusion front flush with the outer edge of the softbox. A simple 2-light setup can properly light up to a 10′ x 10′ area.

Westcott Lighting Gear in Action