July 19th Intro I Workshop Winner and Tips

You know what never gets boring? The weather! We are either in a drought, or dodging the rain like you wouldn’t believe! During our July 19th Intro Workshop, we had to make the best of an extremely rainy situation! The students were amazing, and extremely patient as we created the sun using  indoor lamps. We showed them the challenges of indoor lighting if your camera doesn’t handle higher ISO’s well. And we prayed the rain would stop so we could go outside for at least 20 minutes.  Well, ask and you shall receive. After the first classroom portion of the workshop, it was still raining. So we moved lights around and everyone got to know their classmates a little closer! Showed them that even in a dark situation you can use a reflector, and diffuse the light. I am always so impressed when we have a rainy Intro class, because some students seem to just really nail the indoor exposures. (You’ll see the winner below) But first let’s look at some instructor images for a brief overview.

We had the beuatiful Keila modeling for us. We set up some lights on full power to emulate the sun. The students learned very quickly that even though the lamps were hot and very bright it still had no comparison to the real sun.

We placed the ‘sun’ over head so we could show them backlighting, and using a reflector.

I love this next picture because the lighting is a little unusual. In order to show the students what a diffusion panel was we had the move the light very close to Keila. Most of the time i would crop, or blend the weird lighting on the wall just so all of the focus in on the model,but I love the unusual framing the gap of the diffusion is creating on the wall. So I kept it. This is also part of the post-processing creative controls.

Then just like that the monsoon clouds cleared up leaving just a small sprinkle. But at least it wasn’t as dark and we were able to show the students one of our favorite types of lighting: Window lighting. We couldn’t do this earlier because the clouds and rain had made it so dark outside!

Then we noticed it stopped raining and the clouds began to part so we took everyone outside. It was definitely muddy, but it was very beneficial for everyone to see the difference natural lighting can make. We began to hear a lot of “oooh” and “oh now I see.” I never want it to rain on Intro Workshops because hearing all the technical information click for a wonderful exposed picture is so satisfying and we want all of our students to experience that!

We also talked about stopping motion with a higher shutter speed, and a moving target by setting your focus mode (for Canons AI Servo, and for Nikons Continuous Focus).

Below is the winning image for the July 19th Intro Workshop. Jason captured a well exposed, well composed image of Keila during one of the hardest parts of the class. Keila is being lit from above and behind, which highlights her hair. But then we are using a reflector to bounce that same light into her face so everything isn’t dark! Well done Jason!

We have two runner ups! The first is Lee! We are so glad you submitted this image! Keila is just stunning with that window light bouncing into her face, the highlight on her collar bone, and the composition with the wet window pane is just delightful!

And finally (but not least), the last runner up is Susan! This was towards the end of the workshop, where I think a lot of people were starting the see the difference choosing the correct color for your spot metering can make! I love the highlights in Keila’s hair and cheekbones, and well as the contrast of the darkness in her hair and folds of her shirt. I’s be willing to bet this could make a nice Black and White too!

Thank you so much for everyone who attended our July 19th Intro Workshop! We hope you come to our next Intro II Workshop, September 7th!