Why This Workshop Is
Different
From Most Others
First
of all, I don't pack the room. There are great workshops out there
where the body count is upwards from 60 - 70 - 100 or more. At
Lighting Essentials workshops I want to always keep it around 20
attendees. It is so important that everyone get the chance to shoot,
and learn, and get into the creation of the shot. I am a doer,
not a lecturer when it comes to teaching lighting. Be prepared
to get your hands dirty, so to speak.
Simple Tools: Great Light
I love shiny new equipment. I like the way a lens smells when you take it out of the box. And new strobes... wow. Bright, shiny boxes... what's not to love. I love them.
But I don't NEED them to make great images. They make life easier, they are powerful and they are costly. I don't NEED them to make images. I need light. Sunlight, strobe light, hot light, flashlight, worklights... I don't care. Each has a way of creating light that I can work with. The photograph doesn't care what light you use, it cares about how well you make the photograph.
And that takes knowing how to light, knowing how light works, and knowing how to modify light to do what you want it to do.
We will explore the concepts of lighting, and the hands-on creation of lighting. From a simple natural light headshot, to a glamour shot with only one strobe, to a multi-strobed shot with several lights... we will do it from the position of power. No guessing and 'chimping' to find out what works. You know what works, now you can finesse it into what you want. See it in your head, light it in your head and then produce the photograph you wanted all along.
Who should attend? Who should not attend?
I have had classes with beginners and full-on pros working next to each other. In most cases, that has worked pretty well. The pros who have taken my class were editorial shooters looking to refine their light a bit, or wedding shooters who wanted to expand into portraiture. The concepts I teach are great for most photographers.
Beginners to Pro-am's will get a very strong boost up the lighting ladder, so to speak, as what I cover will increase the proficiency of the average shooter many fold. You will be well schooled in one light, two light and multiple light setups as well as how to use natural light with strobe for 'can't miss' lighting. A pro-shooter may find some of this material basic to their needs. If you are proficient in the lighting, posing and directing of models, then you may be better off in a more advanced workshop. Take a look at the images that are displayed by some of the students and make that call yourself. I think that everyone can learn some great techniques, but if you already can produce the imagery you like, then it may not be the right workshop for you.
A Message for All Photographers
This is a lighting workshop, not a model shoot. We are here to learn how to light people, not to simply take pictures of models. I have to reign in the shooting now and then. We always try to have enough models to work with the teams, but sometimes we may have to limit the photographer to 20 or so images so everyone gets a chance to shoot. In most cases, you will have ample opportunity to shoot the models, but there is a hell of a lot of material to get though and waiting while someone takes a hundred shots is not on the agenda folks.
At the same time, if you cannot promise to deliver images to the models who show up, please do not attend. I cannot stress how important it is for the models to get images from these workshops. It is imperative. I am taking some precautions to make sure we get thm images, but it is so important for all to be in agreement that the models getting images has to be a very important priority for all attending.
Less Me, More You - Less Bluster, More Shooting
If you have ever attended a workshop where the presenter went on and on about how cool it was being them. And who they shot when. And all the cool people they hang out with... you are gonna be shocked at this one. We talk about light. We do light. We make light... pictures... we shoot. We light some more and we shoot some more. If you want to talk about me, we go out afterwards and you buy me a Corona. I'll tell you all you want to know and more... but when you are paying me to learn to light... we're gonna learn to light!
There are models there for you to shoot with. You shoot them, not me. Well, I may take a shot or two, but only for demonstration purposes... not for long. I want you to learn to pose the model, direct her in the light. Then take images that you can use in your portfolio or simply to study and learn from.