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What makes a studio portrait look so much better than one taken by an average amateur photographer with on-camera flash? While a nice background and good posing certainly enhance the picture, it's the lighting equipment and techniques that really add the professional touch. By using two or three lights positioned on stands at various angles to the camera, the photographer is able to control what sides of the face and body receive light, what areas are in shadow and how much lighting contrast separate highlight and shadow areas. Studio lighting doesn't merely illuminate a portrait subject, it "sculpts" the subject with light as a sculptor does with a tool, adding lifelike dimension to the photograph. Studio lighting is not a form of black magic, difficult for all but the select few to grasp. Rather, it is just another photo technique that takes some instruction and experience to master. An AC-powered studio flash system like the Flash Porter Kit (p.62, $289.95) or the JTL TL-265 Kit (p.63, $439.00) has the lights, stands and other pieces you need for basic studio lighting. We have a number of good books on lighting such as The Lighting Cookbook (p.96, $24.95), with complete information on lighting equipment, drawings to show how the lights are positioned and photos to illustrate the final result. Practically any 35mm SLR can be used with studio lighting equipment, since the main requirement is the ability to set the exposure manually. Usually three lights are used. A common arrangement is to have one light near the camera as a fill light, the second light positioned closer to the subject and at an angle to the lens axis, acting as the main light. The third light is behind the subject, pointed towards the background. A flash meter is used to measure the brightness and give you the correct aperture to use. The studio flash setup is fired by the camera by connecting a sync cord to the camera's PC terminal (or to a PC-to-hotshoe adapter if the camera doesn't have a PC outlet). Learning about lighting is not difficult and will advance your photo skills considerably.

POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY'S WEB SITE:
The publishers of Popular Photography magazine have created a new web site and it's certainly worth a look. At http://www.popphoto.com there are reviews and tests of photo equipment, articles on how-to topics, polls asking photo questions and several forums on differing subject areas with interesting questions and responses from viewers. either camera.