Best of Lighting Theory

Lighting Theory was an extremely useful class where we learned how to use flashes to create lighting situations on location.  When I had first bought a flash back in my third session I had no idea how to use it and make it look successful.  Now with just a few key pointers and experiences, I've learned how to make these awesome images with light I bring in myself.  Here are some of the assignments and images of the session.

TTL Portraits
These portraits use a setting on the flash that can sense how far away and if there are things in front of the flash that would need to power up to go through.  It's a smart flash setting for subjects that move quickly or if you have limited time with light.

CD Cover
This assignment was to teach us a concept called depth of light.  The theory is that the closer you bring the light source to the wall, the darker the background will become.  It sounds crazy, but it really does work!  It was really frustrating for me in the beginning and when I had finally given up, I took the photos  just to get something for a reshoot, but it ended up working!  The final product was great and as always, my model was awesome and very patient with me.  :)

Editorial Portraits
The point of these portraits is to create portraits that might be featured in a magazine, website or brochure.  The subject, my friend Eddie does fashion design and I wanted the photographs to have a work at home kind of feel.

Flash at Sunset
This assignment taught us to expose for a sunset or magic hour (1 hour after the sun sets) and create an exposure on the face to match the tone of a sunset.  If you ever wanted to photography a person with a beautiful sunset shot this technique can make it happen.  It was a technical assignment, but still counted as a creative.

Blue Spheres
This assignment taught us all the different lighting techniques we might ever have to do in the field.  All the little things in front of the model are the different types of textures so that you can see all the different types in similar lighting.  In a lot of them I wasn't allowed to smile and in some of them I was getting over a terrible sickness, so a lot of the images look a little worn.

Resting Athlete
This assignment teaches you how to make it look like a sunset when  you're in a shade or overcast situation.  This is a great technique for those times you plan a shoot and the weather just doesn't want to cooperate.

Editorial Layout
This was the final project of the session where we utilized all the techniques that we learned in this class to make pictures for a specific magazine. I wanted to ask my friend Omar to model and already knew that his style fit the magazine, Nylon Guys, perfectly.  I wanted to do a nighttime shot and Omar told me about a bridge that was perfect for my idea.  We had to shoot for a cover shot and then for a full, 2-page spread.  For the official assignment we were not supposed to add text, but I wanted to try my hand at making my own cover.  :)  (I also included a side by side comparison.  The hardest part was finding similar fonts!)

Composite
This assignment was for our lab class and it is the first composite I have ever done.  I took a photo of Kiana on the pier, jumping in the air with balloons and then I took a bunch of balloon pictures to add to the whole image.  Then I took a picture of the sky and got lucky by finding a flock of birds.  I had a tough time with the composite at first, because I am not too proficient at Photoshop yet.  But this composite and other assignments throughout the lab class keep giving me great practice.

Outtakes

These are just some images from the shoots that I didn't turn in but I still like anyways.  :)

LT was great and a lot of work, but it was exactly what I expected.  I'm a bit drained this session, and the beginning started off rough, but I was so pleased with the images I was able to produce.  I can't wait to use my flash more in the field for my own shoots.  Thanks to my wonderful friends for modeling for me and to my classmates and roommates for helping to support me through this session.