When setting up a studio for news, video, or photography, it is important to prepare the lighting to be as close to natural light as possible for the best results. For this, we need a mixture of tungsten and compact fluorescent lamps. The color temperature used in studio lighting must create a color temperature balance of 3200K to 5400K from white light to daylight.

A compact fluorescent lamp that can produce a good natural source is preferred in the studio. Fluorescent light produces less heat (about 100W) and can be placed closer to the subject to achieve daylight balance without fear of “melting the actors” when using 800W sources.

The key to a studio setup is to use 3-point lighting, commonly known as a key light, fill light, and backlight.

The key light is the most important as it highlights the subject and is used to contour the face and add depth and interest to the subject. It is usually brighter and can be placed closer to the subject if you use a compact fluorescent lamp. The position is at an angle of about 45 degrees from the line between your subject and the camera.

The second position is that the fill light also shines on the subject from the front, but at an angle from the other side to the key light. It is normally softer compared to the key light and placed further back to achieve overall balance by lighting shadowed surfaces such as the shadow of a person’s face and nose.

The third point is the backlight, which illuminates the subject from behind from the side to create a rim of light at the hair or shoulder to separate the subject from the background and highlight the contours. This creates a band of light around the edges of the hair and clothing, which is a good effect for professional photography.

With the right type of lighting and the use of 3-point lighting, the photo or video will look more natural in color and light balance, and your customer will be satisfied with the result.

For starters, you can get a portable lighting kit called a Redhead kit, which comes complete with three Redheads, three 800W bulbs, three wire protectors, three light stands and a padded carrying case with a shoulder strap.

In addition to using 3-point lighting in the studio, we also use this setup for stage lighting for action video shooting purposes. Many operators forget that in addition to the audience that comes to see the show on stage, they will have a video shoot to appear on TV or record. Correct stage lighting settings will allow the subject to appear to have depth separated from the background.

Many lighting people only set stage lighting for a live audience and forgot or didn’t know how to set up stage lighting for video and photography. At our lighting and sound company, we use this 3-point lighting principle whenever we set up studio lighting and stage lighting.