In the beginning

I've always wanted to be a professional photographer.  Because it didn't require expensive equipment, I started learning location photography largely by practicing a lot.  Someplace along the way, I knew I had to learn studio lighting but studio strobes were expensive and on a student's budget it was not practical.  I also knew very little about proper lighting so I would use what I had.  Many of my early shots were done with an off camera flash (OCF).  Cameras used film, focusing was manual, exposure was done based on the film instruction sheet or if you were lucky, your camera had a built in light meter.

I needed to learn techniques for studio photos but could only afford what was called "hot lights" back then.  Light was provided by a 250 watt tungsten bulb which was really bright and hot.

 

 I just set up the lights (one on each side) and did portraits.  Then I picked up a book on studio lighting published by Kodak and my knowledge base was expanded.  I had placed the lights in the wrong position for proper lighting of the face.  I shot b/w film, processed my own and made my own prints.  I didn't have a soft focus filter so all the images could be quite sharp until I discovered I could make my own soft focus accessory for the darkroom using a needle point hoop and nylon stockings.  Since retouching by conventional means of a 35mm negative was not really feasible, that's what I used to make the portraits look presentable.

 

If I wanted a color photo, I had to do it myself because I didn't have the right film for the lights (needed tungsten balanced film) and it was beyond my budget.  With the help of a local professional photographer, I learning to hand color portraits using Marshall Oil Colors.  With practice I would do a decent job.

 

That's how graduation photos were delivered until color film/prints became cost effective for photographers.

I knew that "hot lights" were not going to cut it as a professional photographer so I started to look for affordable studio lights.  That will come in the next segment.