lumogeny

Know the look before you light it.

Lumogeny shows where the lights stand for 43 photographic styles, and turns the one you want into a shoot sheet for your own camera, lenses and lights.

Six set-ups, six looks

  1. Render of a grey clay head. Two matched flash softboxes either side of the lens and two more on a pale backdrop, flat and even, the head square-on.

    Düsseldorf School of Photography

    backdropleft flashright flashbackgroundbackground50 cm

    Two matched flash softboxes either side of the lens and two more on a pale backdrop, flat and even, the head square-on.

  2. Render of a grey clay head. Hard sun from the front and side, crisp cast shadows on the neck and the head's shadow drawn on a pale wall just behind.

    Mexican modernist photography

    backdropsun4.3 m away50 cm

    Hard sun from the front and side, crisp cast shadows on the neck and the head's shadow drawn on a pale wall just behind.

  3. Render of a grey clay head. Broad daylight from a glass roof overhead and a tall side window, both softened with blinds, on a pale backdrop (the light of the studio, not the albumen print).

    Carte-de-visite studio portraits

    backdropskylightside window1.8 m away50 cm

    Broad daylight from a glass roof overhead and a tall side window, both softened with blinds, on a pale backdrop (the light of the studio, not the albumen print).

  4. Render of a grey clay head. One large skylight high to the side and close to the sitter, screens holding it off the far side, a dark backdrop (the light of the studio, not the silvered plate).

    Daguerreotype portraiture

    backdropskylight50 cm

    One large skylight high to the side and close to the sitter, screens holding it off the far side, a dark backdrop (the light of the studio, not the silvered plate).

  5. Render of a grey clay head. A hard spot high above the lens (butterfly), a weak fill from low in front, a hair light on a boom and a rim light from behind, against black.

    Hollywood glamour portraiture

    black backdropkey, highfill, lowhairrim50 cm

    A hard spot high above the lens (butterfly), a weak fill from low in front, a hair light on a boom and a rim light from behind, against black.

  6. Render of three objects on a table. Seen straight down, a large window to one side softened by a sheer, a white foam board opposite filling the shadows.

    Flat lay

    blackboardwhite sweep1.5 m behindwindow50 cm

    Seen straight down, a large window to one side softened by a sheer, a white foam board opposite filling the shadows.

Renders made in Blender Cycles on a clay head or a still life of three objects: synthetic figures, not people. The grey scale under each picture marks a render. Plans are to scale and seen from above, camera at the bottom; magenta is light. Pick a set-up for its style and its shoot sheet.

Start from a style

43 styles, from the daguerreotype to the Y2K digicam, each with its photographs, its light and a shoot sheet.

All 43 styles

The light lab

Move one softbox round a clay head and watch butterfly light turn into loop, Rembrandt and split light.

Open the light lab

Try