Question: Which set-up do you recommend to take advantage of studio lighting, strobes, etc.?

Answer: Studio photography is an art and craft unto itself. Images made in a studio environment are the result of the greatest control possible in photography and represent a significant investment in time, equipment, and technique.

Olympus digital SLRs are very adaptable to the studio environment because the extensive camera features and settings enable the photographer to adjust camera settings to work with whatever lighting the photographer wishes to use.

The best way to learn studio photography is to attempt studio photography. In the digital photography era the expenses of experimentation are far less than shooting film because of the immediate feedback a digital camera provides.

At the very least, a studio photographer needs to put together a lighting kit. This can be done piece-by-piece, or entire kits with lights, light stands, umbrellas, clamps and other accessories can be purchased. Lighting options include tungsten, halogen, low-energy fluorescent, and electronic flash. Studio photography can also be done with window light.

One resource Olympus recommends for photographic education is the Olympus Digital School*, which can be found online at http://www.olympusdigitalschool.com. The Olympus Digital School has a diverse series of photo lessons demonstrating photographic techniques—many of them studio techniques. The lessons can be found at http://www.olympusdigitalschool.com/Photo_Lessons/index.html. The lessons demonstrate how to get professional studio results using different lighting setups in various scenarios. Use the techniques you see in the lessons to practice studio photography, and use the information provided to produce your own variations on these techniques with your own equipment.

You may be surprised that you can produce wonderful, professional-looking results with somewhat basic techniques and equipment.

* The Olympus Digital School is not managed by Olympus America. It is part of the Web Photo School family of Web sites.

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