I have to confess that I know very little about using studio lighting.  Whenever I’ve shot at PASM, I’ve had to rely on my colleagues to set up the lights for me.  (Luckily we’ve got a lot of great people at PASM as well as great equipment.)  I recognize that one of these days I’m going to have to hunker down and learn this stuff.  How many lights to use?  Which ones?  Which settings on them?  How to place them?

I came across this over on the Strobist blog a couple of days ago and thought some people might find this interesting. Here’s a shot of Beyonce done by George Holz for Spin Magazine.

Nice shot, right?  She’s not only beautiful, she knows how to pose.  But that’s just half the battle, isn’t it?  The other half is capturing the magic.

How many lights do you think that Holz used for that shot?  Try eight. Here’s his lighting diagram:

If this is the kind of thing that interests you, then hit the link for Strobist where they also have a video of Holz talking you through the set-up.