Rock that lighting!!!! Another weekend another adventure with a camera! This weekend I took another lighting workshop. Same as my last workshop it was through a local camera shop, but with a different (and much better instructor this time).

If you caught my last post about workshops you will know that after the last one I attend I had mixed feelings on going to another. But boy am I glad I did. A much more positive atmosphere, a friendlier instructor, more hands on shooting time – all around a great experience.

I’m not going to go into all of the details of the workshop, suffice it to say that it was a small group (maybe 10 people) and we used ourselves as models for the other students while we learned about metering and how to setup a couple of different lighting setups.

But the one thing I want to discuss was something the instructor didn’t teach, and that was their ability to connect with people. After just one quick introduction he was able to call everybody by their first name, and when he was showing us his shooting techniques his way of guiding the subject though different poses struck me as incredibly personable and effective. It may seem like a very minor thing, but what I noticed was that it made all the difference in the person posing – when you say ‘turn your head’ vs ‘ok turn just a little bit, that’s perfect’ or just following a picture or pose with ‘that’s an amazing shot’. It keeps the energy in the room high, builds the models confidence, and just creates a much more positive atmosphere.

Being able to connect with the subject, keep their energy high, and keep things positive and light – that’s the secret sauce right there. Our instructor made that look effortless, which speaks to their skill and experience, but that’s something that’s easy to overlook (especially when your an introvert like me) and something that I personally am going to try to make it a point to bring into all my portrait work going forward.

Anyway, here are some pics from the shoot!!!