What’s Gotta Stay

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a workshop put on my Master Photographer Kenneth Linge. This class was the second in his 3 part “Photographing People” series, held in his Orem, UT studio. It has been a long time since I attended his first part of the series, so I was eager to get back and see what new techniques and ideas I could pick up in this second session.

I am always a fan of great portrait photography, and lately I have been working on improving my use of controlled lighting to get better photos created “in camera” as people will so often say. I know I have a lot to learn, and I find getting into group situations and seeing what others do is often the best way for me to see ideas I can incorporate into my own practice. Who better to learn from than someone that has been doing such masterful work for so long.

Kenneth just returned from a long trip teaching in Europe; and when I mean just I really mean it. Due to a delayed flight he arrived at the studio direct from the airport 30 minutes before class was to begin. Always the trooper, Kenneth dove right in.

This class was definitely different than my previous session, and I confess to enjoying most the hands on time where we were challenged to light our scene, pose the model, and receive direct critique to improve what we have done. Though we unfortunately had rain throughout the workshop, so we remained indoors instead of mixing in/outdoors experience, we made the most of it. From what I understand about part 3 of the workshop series, there are more models and even more time spent in actual practice, which is what I relish. I have so much to learn, and I’m not afraid to be told what I am doing wrong in order to get better.

Though we spent plenty of time with “big” lights in the studio, which was excellent, I was intrigued by the power of the two LED panels Kenneth is showing us in the first photo above. Daylight balanced – and above to be gelled for color – these surprisingly powerful light sources were easy to coordinate with the main window light.

I thought I’d share a few other images from the day, only a few of many taken during the learning process. Keep in mind I can’t take credit for the lighting or setting, I will take credit for anything wrong! It was a learning process, but with a beautiful model and some great lighting available it was hard not to be happy with the results of what we captured and what was I was able to take away in my head.

More images can be viewed in my gallery from the event. I may add more images later, but my goal really isn’t to process everything from the day for publishing. These images were made for my learning process and I’m happy with what I was able to gain.

Thanks for offering your knowledge Kenneth!

Tags: review, workshop