Master the art of shaping light in the studio.
CLASS MATERIALS
What’s the difference between a large silver umbrella and a small softbox? Why use a grid? How do you control light spill? What does it mean to shape light? Mark answers all these questions as he breaks down light in easy-to-understand terms. Mark steps through the principles of light step by step. After explaining each principle of light, he applies it to specific modifiers.
Direction of Light, contrast, form, shape, The Inverse Square Law, The Angle of Incidence and Reflection, soft light, hard light, Effective Size, Dynamic Range, and more. Once you understand these principles, you’ll understand each light modifier’s size, shape, and surface and how to use them most effectively. This class is jam-packed and perfect for every level of studio photographer.
Beginner to Intermediate portrait photographers
Portrait Photographers who work in the studio
Anyone looking to add more lighting gear to their toolbox
Photographers looking to expand their lighting options
LESSONS
Click to see a summary of each lesson. To go to a specific lesson, use the playlist button on the top righthand side of the video player, click it and select the lesson you’d like to watch.
Mark gives an overview of the class and the topics we’ll cover and things we won’t be covering. Mark also introduces the production team.
The best way to get the most out of this class it to “get a grasp” on the subject matter. Mark explains the five things you can do to grab hold of the lessons and never let go.
Test your lighting knowledge. Use the sample photos and pop quiz worksheet from the class page to measure your lighting knowledge. Mark will return to this at the end of the workshop to help you measure how much you’ve learned from the class.
The foundation of understanding and describing light is knowing about the quality of light. We can define light as “hard” or “soft” by looking at the shadows that light casts. Mark first demonstrates the quality of light by examining some shadows, and then he creates hard and soft light with some basic light modifiers.
The size of your light matters. As we move our light farther away from a subject, the effective size becomes smaller, and the light becomes harder. We can change the effective size of our light by using different modifiers.
Mark explains how the position of our light changes the contrast in the image. First, Mark charts different positions on a whiteboard, and then he demonstrates the principle by shooting with a model.
Adding multiple lights to a setup can cause unwanted shadows or unpredictable results. Mark uses shadows on a wall to show why it’s better to use “indirect” fill than “direct” fill in some circumstances.
The distance of our light from our subject can dramatically affect our lighting. Using the Inverse Square Law, you can control how much light is falling on the background, light large areas, and control background shadows. Mark explains the Inverse Square Law and then demonstrates the many ways you can use it to your advantage.
How can you control reflections in your image? What’s the best way to get rid of glare on glasses or other reflective surfaces? The answer lies in understanding the way light is reflected. Mark explains the angle of incidence and reflection using a laser pointer, a mirror, and some groovy sunglasses.
The reflections of the lights on our subject are called specular highlights. We can use different modifiers to make these reflections more or less pronounced. Specular highlights can make an image pop or make it a flop.
Light modifiers with a parabolic shape allow us to create more directional light. Of course, we can also get more power from our light with parabolic modifiers. But what makes this shape so special? Mark uses graphics and a demonstration of shadows on a wall to explain everything.
There is a range of light, from dark to light, that our camera can capture. It’s called “dynamic range.” Mark uses charts to explain dynamic range and then creates a portrait using a fake sun to help illustrate the concept.
Sometimes a correct exposure isn’t the best creative choice for your image. Instead, Mark explains what a “creatively correct” exposure is and then creates two portraits that are technically incorrect but creatively correct.
Mark explores the many ways to meter light and why you’d want to use each. Mark explains TTL (through the lens) metering and common metering modes and how to use a light meter.
How do we control light? How do we bounce light? Flags, reflectors, and subtraction panels are light modifiers that don’t attach to lights but are just as important. Mark creates a few portraits using these modifiers to help you understand the concepts.
Why are there so many light modifiers, and which modifiers are the best? Mark walks through the most common modifiers and explains why you may or may not need each one.
Mark tries to reverse engineer some of his older portraits and reconstruct the lighting. Mark demonstrates how you can use the skills you’ve learned in this class to recreate inspirational images and create your own portraits.
Mark tells us what some of his favorite light modifiers are. Then he uses those modifiers to create some portraits. He finishes the section by bringing out a huge surprise!
In this session, Mark invites you to retake the pop quiz using the same images from the beginning of the class. You can measure how much you’ve learned and identify areas for improvement. Mark also talks through some of his images and explains how he created them.
Mark gives his final thoughts and shares some additional learning resources.