Lencarta Lighting Course - Another View

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alexam

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Malcolm
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7pm - Just arrived back home after a full day (9-45am - 5pm) with Garry Edwards of Lencarta giving his studio lighting course subsidised by Lencarta.

After starting out at 7am and arriving back at 7pm, the most important first action was to kick off my shoes, say a brief hello to the 'boss' ( my lovely Lady) and then pour out a large glass of chilled wine, which I had been thinking about for the last 50 miles return journey. That trip back took me 2 hours instead of the 2 hours 20 up there due to the satnav not identifying Garry's studio and local people not knowing where the address was, even the Co-Op store below the studio didn't now the road until I mentioned the studio! ( Better directions please Garry)

I was not sure what to expect, having been on another lighting Studio Lighting course in Birmingham a few weeks ago, which was excellent, but having booked this one with Lencarta some months ago in order to get on-board these busy, subsidised courses, I travelled for over 2 hours to take up my space and see what might be different.

........ Pause during typing to refill the glass ...... well it was a bloody long trip!

Worth it .................... you bet it was! A few things I already knew about from the first studio lighting course, but there was more to learn and I was extremely impressed with the collapsible strip softbox with honeycomb, which although I knew about, I had not seen in action. It was fantastic. I think others on the course were also impressed with that, but expect they will make their own comments, but this lighting tool is is now on my wish list.

The day started with Garry explaining what we would do in the day, how light worked and how important it is to arrange your model, or your photographic subject before deciding what lights to use. Then to start building the lights to obtain the image you require, NOT to use everything you have available and adjust accordingly.

From time to time, Garry would say " I'm off for a coffee and will leave it to you to light the next subject/pose" ( just to see if wee had been taking note of what he had been telling us) This was different and put the onus on us to make a start and set up lighting from scratch, working as a team. He would then return ( we couldn't really stop him) and comment on what we had done, how it worked or not and how it might be improved. I really liked that approach and believe that others did also.

We were most fortunate in having a fantastic model 'Cassie', who knew how to free pose and could really help us obtain the shots that were looking for, by using her vast experience in such situations. I will post images once I have had time to sort them out.

......... One trigger was passed around between the photographers attending, so we all took turns in shooting, but I also made adjustments when not shooting the model, to take a few shots of the team and Garry doing his 'thing'. He wanted to be paid for those shots but we explained where he should go! lol

By the time the session was over we had covered so many situations, including 'painting by light', a process of using a torch beam, moved around the subject to create an exposed image......... that was something I knew about but had not seen done and I believe was new to us all today

There are a lot of lighting courses being offered around at present, but if you haven't been on one of Garry Edward's, Lencarta subsidised courses, you should think seriously about it, as I believe you can learn quite a lot that will help you in understanding the power of light and how to control it!

That's my two penneth and I hope it helps others in the way I have been helped today. Thank's again Garry, a great day and well worth the trip!:thumbs:

Malcolm

I'm now off to refill the glass!
 
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Many thanks, we do our best:
I was extremely impressed with the collapsible strip softbox with honeycomb, which although I knew about, I had not seen in action. It was fantastic. I think others on the course were also impressed with that, but expect they will make their own comments, but this lighting tool is is now on my wish list.
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Yes, they are pretty cool. I suppose I take them for granted and it would have been better if I'd explained the benefits of folding softboxes and some other stuff - I don't though, because I get a bit sick of people accusing me of pimping Lencarta products. The people who came on today's lighting workshop know that that just isn't true.

The day started with Garry explaining what we would do in the day, how light worked and how important it is to arrange your model, or your photographic subject before deciding what lights to use. Then to start building the lights to obtain the image you require, NOT to use everything you have available and adjust accordingly.
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This is the whole point. Lighting is arguably the most important ingredient but must always be the last part of the puzzle that we put in place.
First, we decide what we want to achieve
Secondly we organise/orchestrate the pose or whatever
Third we decide on camera height/positon
And finally we arrange the lighting to suit.
Garry would say " I'm off for a coffee and will leave it to you to light the next subject/pose" ( just to see if wee had been taking note of what he had been telling us) This was different and put the onus on us to make a start and set up lighting from scratch, working as a team. He would then return ( we couldn't really stop him) and comment on what we had done, how it worked or not and how it might be improved. I really liked that approach and believe that others did also.
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Yeah, that's because I have a 'strong personality' and I know full well that if I don't disappear and force people to do things for themselves they won't do it, at least they won't do it if they think I'm watching, so I just pour myself a coffee, retire to my office and watch them on CCTV:) And then I come out again and interfere...
......... One trigger was passed around between the photographers attending, so we all took turns in shooting,
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That's because I don't want more than 1 person shooting at a time, only one person can be in the right place at a time and the model can only look in one direction at a time
By the time the session was over we had covered so many situations, including 'painting by light', a process of using a torch beam, moved around the subject to create an exposed image......... that was something I knew about but had not seen done and I believe was new to us all today
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The 'Dutch master' I mentioned whose name I couldn't remember at the time is Emil Shildt He does it much the same as me but a lot better:) It's a bit of a weird speciality but a tool well worth having in your toolbox. I think that that light painting demo demonstrated the value of a good tripod, or in my case a very solid studio stand...
 
I too was on the course, I had to leave 30 mins early due to a mountain of paperwork from the day job to complete but it's a fantastic course that shows you lights don't have to e put, or do, what you assume. Would recommend it to anyone.
 
Even Into practice Donald!

Nice to meet you at the studios!
 
I went on the course last year and it was great - much better than other courses I had been on (and Cassie was also a star) - though November was probably the coldest month ever and the journey back in snow was a little fun. Was thinking about signing up for another in May but am inundated with work atm so instead have ordered all of Garry's photolearn stuff - thought I could watch them in comfort of home and try things out in the room I have kitted out as I went along - also I could use them as reference guides.
 
I was also on Sunday's lighting course, and have to say it delivered (for me at least) exactly what I was hoping for - a hands on demonstration of the principles of studio lighting. Indeed the focus very much was on principles of how to workout and set a scene up for yourself instead of being a bunch of canned lighting setups for you to follow and immitate without actually learning anything.

Garry had tons of useful stuff to share, and Cassie was a total star - not just a fantastic model, but also so helpful it was like having a 2nd teacher on the course.

Completely agree with Malcolm that the honeycombed strip softbox was a revelation. I hadn't considered getting one before, but now I'm sure I'll be getting one soon enough.
 
Another view of those fantastic strip softboxes and honeycomb is on the video by Alexander Heinrichs in Roger Lowe's thread on FOCUS ISSUE ... ................... take a look, the dancing shots are superb.
 
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This sounds like just what i need to
Inprove my studio photography. How do i go about booking on to one of the above courses. Thanks
 
alexam said:
Another view of those fantastic strip softboxes and honeycomb is on the video by Alexander Heinrichs in Roger Lowe's thread on FOCUS ISSUE ... ................... take a look, the dancing shots are superb.
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If you think about it, the lighting setup (not the background) is pretty much what we did for these shots (NSFW). The only real difference is that our model was fairly static compared to his, so we were able to light more precisely.

As I keep saying, lighting isn't difficult once you understand the principles:)
This sounds like just what i need to
Inprove my studio photography. How do i go about booking on to one of the above courses. Thanks
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You have a choice of lighting workshops here. Depending on your location, go to Jonathan at Maidstone if you want a really nice guy in a smart hotel with good coffee, or come to me at Bradford - hang on while I think of some benefits to coming here...:)
 
Cris_L said:
Relaxed atmosphere, a real spit and sawdust studio, Garrys unique teaching method...and last but definately not least.. Cassie!
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Cassie is a good nude model, but not exceptional. I tend to work with a fairly small number of people just like her, simply because I know I can trust them to do their job properly and turn up, rather than keep trying new ones and taking risks.

My teaching methods... Yes, I do put people under pressure, I force them to work things out for themselves. I used to be more laid back but found that when invited to do so, some people would try things for themselves but most people would just stand around and let them (or me) get on with it. So now I make people do it themselves - it works!

My studio is pretty standard as far as commercial studios go. Very different of course from portrait studios, to me what matters is having the specialised equipment I need and the space to use it. All my work is commercial/advertising and I do just about all kinds of photography for businesses, from furniture and engineering to fashion. Tomorrow will be leather purses. Coping with a wide range needs a lot of props, most of which are knocked together on site as and when required and then just broken up again afterwards, and a lot of bits and pieces that most people don't really think of as studio equipment, but which very much are.
 
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