The best way to make lighting diagrams

When winter hits and the wedding photography slows down, I usually pick up a few commercial jobs to keep myself occupied. Some of it being product photography, which isn’t the most creative use of my time, but it still needs done. Upon delivering professional results, companies often continue to send me additional product to be photographed.

They key component in photographing additional products is having them look identical to those shot months earlier. When breaking down my lighting for a different project, I find it helpful to document the setup for future shoots. There are several photo and web applications designed for this purpose, but in my opinion, they take too much time. The best method I’ve found, is to take a picture, and spend 3 minutes overlaying it with exposure variables, like above.