Portrait Photography: Lighting Options and Techniques with David Robertson

Established instructor and photographer David Robertson will explain and demonstrate studio lighting in this intensive hands-on workshop, emphasizing portraiture with equally useful still-life photography techniques. The course will be taught in his studio located in Davis, California.

Constant light (LED) and strobe light (monolight) will be used during the workshop, and the benefits and drawbacks of each will be discussed. A model, Becca Novak (IG: @bec_novak), will be provided so that participants will have an opportunity to apply the techniques demonstrated during the workshop. Various softboxes, flags, and reflectors will be used to show how light sources can be modified to create desired effects.

Topics to be covered include:

• • Posing the model and model etiquette
  • Creating catchlights in eyes
  • Traditional single-light techniques
  • Multiple light setups (main, fill, and background lights)
  • Inverse square law (critical to balancing light between subject and surrounding environment

Instruction and lighting demonstrations will be from 9 a.m. until noon, followed by a lunch break. When we reconvene, additional lighting demonstrations will be performed with the model, followed by lighting created by each participant, with the assistance and guidance of the instructor.