TEST SHOTS.....

Head and Shoulder Portraits.....









Low Key.....





Black And White.....






Low Key Profile.....





"Hija! Gayahin Mo Ako....."






The Paparazzi.....






The Formal Group Shot.....






To the Wacky Gang Shot.....





I've been to a lot of lighting classes and it does not hurt to attend one again, and again, and again! The principles of lighting in photography does not really change. What I am after is to see how each photographer uses light as a tool and how do they use it in their work. One can say that a photographer's skill can be judge by the way he uses light since photography literally means "to paint with light".

I've been using the strobist lighting technique ever since I bought myself a Flashwaves remote trigger. Some of my still life shots were used with this technique. But it was fun to know more about how it can be used during portrait shoots. The trend nowadays is to use portable flash just like one would use a studio strobe for lighting portraits. The flashes can be attached to light stands or better yet held by a "voice activated" light holder who moves the flash according to how the photographer tells "it" to do so. Talking about advance technology!

It does imply that the photographer must own at least two flash guns for this to work but one would suffice in order to produce that dramatic lighting effect. And with accessories that can be attached to flash guns to modify the kind of light it emits just like a studio strobe would have, flash photography has evolve into another realm. Knowledge in using this technique lessens the load on the photographer during location shoots. No more heavy lifting of lighting bags that may contain three or four strobe lights plus their stands and whatever light modifiers (umbrellas and soft boxes) that goes with the lights. Believe me, I've carried one of these bags before and it was a back breaker.

For this refresher class with Sir Mel of DecisiveMoments, we shot two models while he explained the different lighting techniques. Not only did he discussed these, he also gave the models some posing techniques. Even if I know the concepts, I felt it was necessary that I listen to him talk out of respect. Problem was other people just started shooting the models instantly. I hope these guys were able to learn something from this class.

I do have to applaud the two models though, Fatima and Muriel (sorry if I got the other model's name wrong). They were real troopers. And they were both game enough to actually last the whole session as it was almost late when Sir Mel called it a wrap. I'd also like to give my thanks to the group they belong to which is Image Factory of Arvin Matunding.

In the end, Sir Mel just gave everybody a chance to shoot and the guys had fun. And I also would like to thank you sir for giving me the permission to borrow your photos and allowing me post it in my blog.