Photography Lighting Class
Lighting is hard. Anyone can do it.
Me about to continue teaching the course - Photo by Sam Shimizu-Jones
Recently we launched a new course on Udemy.com about artificial lighting for photography. Candidly, I’m not a massive fan of using flashes and strobes in my photography. I’ve always felt that it takes away from my stealthy sneakiness while I click away. In street photography and weddings specifically, I’d prefer that my subjects didn't know the exact moment I was recording light bouncing off their faces. Also, making artificial light look natural is hard. It's honestly something I'm still getting better at, and even as I continue to grow in my art, know that I will never be done learning fully.
There are two main aspects to light that we talk about in the class. The first is what it is and how we can control it. Its always been a treat for me to use paintings as a reference for creating light. Just by nature, all light in paintings is manufactured. The artist may be referencing a naturally lit subject in front of them, but they’re artificially creating how the light falls in the frame. They’re in control of the three variables in light: quality of the light, direction of the light, and power or intensity of the light.
The second part of lighting I tackled in class is mostly technical. Sam Shimizu-Jones does an excellent job of letting me walk around him with a handheld light as I show examples of where we can physically put the light to tell a story. We also go into remotes, light modifiers, and good habits in using onboard, external, and strobe lights with photography.
Taken with a Hasselblad 503cx with a digital back using a single Godex 200pro
Taken with a Hasselblad 503cx with a digital back using a single Godex 200pro
If you're just starting out with photography, a class like this might feel like trying to drink from a firehose. Even if you're a seasoned photographer and are just starting out in lighting, it can be daunting. I would encourage you to not give up. While it can be frustrating wrapping your head around light and implementing all the tools you've acquired to find your look, YOU must keep going. If you've watched our live streams or taken any of our classes, you will hear me say this all the time; learning photography and putting it into practice is no different than learning a new language or playing an instrument. The only way to get better is to practice.
Not only practice, but study. We are a society powered by visual images. Look at the photo on your desktop, the billboard you see in traffic, the magazine ad, your favorite TV show or weekend movie… all these images were crafted by artists manipulating and shaping light.Take a gander and try to decipher for yourself where the light is coming from, is it hard or is it soft light, how powerful do you think it is - and most importantly: how is the light contributing to the story of the image?
What choices will you make about the light in your photographs?
Here is a direct button to the class on udemy:
You can check out our class in the link above or any of our classes at www.photoandfriends.com
If you would like to support our teaching effort you can head over to www.photoandfriends.com/plus and join for free or pay a $5/ month supporter fee. It's sort of like our Patreon, but built for a community of photographers of all levels.
We also post our new classes, boot camps, and anything else there first. Who knows, maybe we will start in-person workshops and meet-ups soon. Stay tuned.
Some quick reviews from the course on Udemy.