Advanced Lighting Techniques in the Islands!

Not doing our Dobbs Ferry Workshops this year. Time to give that old building on the Hudson a rest for a bit, wonderful as it is. Instead, the only workshop our studio is doing this summer is once again in paradise. Hit this link for details, but here’s the schedule.  We start on Monday, August 15, and run for 5 days. Doing things differently this year in that we will bypass the basics and jump straight into using small flash in the most expressive of ways. We will try multiple flash techniques, play with exposure ranges, use gels and filters, shoot fire at night, do character portraits, flash and blur, hi speed sync. We take it to another level, in a place that has so many levels to offer in terms of inspiration. St. Lucia–one of the truly beautiful spots on earth.

Monday Program:

Morning Session: 9am. Class meets in air conditioned conference room equipped with digital projector. Morning is devoted to assessing participant  portfolios and determining objectives for the week. Each participant to bring no more than 10 images for review and discussion. They can be the participant’s images, or images not their own that they admire and wish to know more about, or emulate in some way.

Break from 12-3.

Afternoon session: 3pm. Instructor slide show. Demo of sensor cleaning techniques. Review of basic lighting strategies. Afternoon shooting session in teams with a model assigned to each team. Basic assignment: Use one light well.

Tuesday Program:

Meet in conference room at 9:30 for image review and critique. Time in class available to select and edit images for max of 3 per student to project.

Break from 12-3.

Afternoon demo and on location discussion of shooting interior/exterior environments effectively, with emphasis on using flash to balance exposure zones encountered in the open air rooms of Jade Mountain. Each team disperses with models to a selection of rooms to shoot for the afternoon. Assignment is to create mood and ambiance, while effectively using small flash techniques to blend interior and exterior environments.

Wednesday Program:

Meet in conference room at 9:30 for image review and critique. Time in class available to select and edit images for max of 3 per student to project.

Break from 12-3.

Afternoon Session: Instructor demo on blending flash with intense sun using advanced technique of high speed flash. Situation created to simulate wedding on the beach, and employment of techniques to successfully shoot a bride and groom in a fluid way as event unfolds. Teams assigned models, and rotate with various models, including wedding couple, for afternoon.

Alternative Location: Soufrieres Fire Department. Working to craft location driven, multiple flash portraits that show character and drama.

Bonus Evening Demo: Instructor will light and shoot a romantic dinner for two in terrace setting, showing selective flash techniques for couple at table, while blending sunset effectively. Use of gels, exposure techniques, grid spots, snoots.

Thursday Program:

Meet in conference room at 9:30 for image review and critique. Time in class available to select and edit images for max of 3 per student to project.

Break from 12-3.

Afternoon Session: Photography in the jungle. Panning and blurring techniques with flash and jungle bikers. Demonstration by instructor in the art of creating images that move. Also portrait techniques demonstrated in intense, beautiful jungle environment. Teams assigned models to shoot for afternoon. Each team will have access to an experienced biker.

Friday Program:

Meet in conference room at 9:30 for image review and critique. Time in class available to select and edit images for max of 3 per student to project.

Break from 12-4.

Final Afternoon session: Meet in class to for final Q&A session and review of techniques learned. Last session late on Friday, class gathers on beach for spectacular “flambo” sunset session, with fires on the beach, models and flash lighting with gels. This session will employ new “radio TTL” equipment from Pocket Wizard. Wrap up gear at dusk, and retire to beach bar for goodbye drink. (Or several.)

We will also be using a lot of the new Pocket Wizard TTL techniques and gear. Those units have really come together, and are perfect for work where you want to show lots of the environment in a sweeping way, and thus have to hide your flashes, out of line of sight.

It’s gonna be fun. More tk….