Quite often, people that see your images or other photographers may ask how this was photographed in a studio. There are countless books about studio lighting for the novice and seasoned photographer. What separates one image from another is the photographer's creativity when adapting different lighting techniques or by creating new ones. The hard part is by explaining how it was done in a studio without going into a long lengthy conversation which has lead the listener into a state of suspended animation. The old expression "a picture is worth a thousand words" is certainly true. A creative individual has taken the requirement by photographers to document their lighting setups and created both an on-line application and a mobile application for creating lighting diagrams. The product is available for on-line use at http://www.sylights.comor for download at the Apple store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sylights-for-ipad/id445217552

It is true that you can document your lighting diagrams with sophisticated tools like Microsoft Visio or using Google Sketch. Microsoft Visio is expensive, sophisticated and takes a bit of training to become proficient at it. I came across the Sylights application at a portfolio development workshop and I have quickly put it into use. Using Sylight to document your studio lighting setup from a photo shoot is just the beginning. You can share your lighting diagrams with your fellow photographers by using the mail option in the tool or you can make it available on-line. You can also view the lighting diagrams on-line and see the photos that resulted from the lighting documented. It is a great way to learn new lighting setups and share with your fellow photographers. Give it a try and see if it helps improve your photography. Free for the time being.

Below is the lighting setup that was used for photographing Courtney.