Light is the irrefutable basis of photography, and its qualities and characteristics are endlessly varied. That’s a big part of what makes photography so interesting to me – you can give a few photographers the same subject, and even the same gear, and get very different resultant images. So, for many photographers, the concept of “lighting” is often a fun one to noodle on.
On March 5, 2017, a number of photographers gathered at Aliza Rae’s “Birdseye Studios” for an afternoon workshop about lighting. Johnny Marszalkowski, of Orphonic, and I planned the afternoon, and I arranged for the various speakers. We had five presenters (including myself): Kevin Miyazaki, Deni Storm, Doug McGoldrick, and Aliza Rae. Each photographer spoke for about half-an-hour, while sharing various images. Then, after the presentations were done, we had little bit of “lighting play time” with a pair of local models, putting to use the ideas we’d just been inspired with.
Jen Kessler spoke about the value she brings to a shoot as a hair-and-makeup stylist, and how that contributes to a shoot’s success. I spoke about my working style, and how much I appreciate a good battery-powered flash on my location shoots for corporate and editorial clients. Kevin talked about how much he loves available window light, or using lights to try and re-create that look for his magazine portraits. Deni impressed us all with the cleverness of her still-life photos, all made in a corner dining room! Doug really wowed us with his tips for traveling light, with a full light kit, when he’s working for university clients or political campaigns. Aliza shared her wedding and fashion images that were a mix of available and created light, and made with film cameras, her preferred type of camera.
Our models were my friend Rebecca, and local singer/performer, Jon Henry.
Deni spoke about the great value she finds in Instagram, so, here are all the presenters’ IG accounts: Jen, me, Kevin, Deni, Doug, Aliza.
To attend the workshop, people had to pay $10, and then all that money was donated to APA – a major trade organization for working photographers.
