Wednesday night, I attended my first photography seminar. I didn’t really know what to expect, since it was my first one. It was definitely interesting with some insightful techniques. The trade show had some good deals and good products to show off, but nothing too extraordinary. At first, I wasn’t too impressed with the information given to us. He started out with some basic techniques that I could have found on the internet and then went into more complex lighting set-ups that most of the people in the room probably wouldn’t ever do. His pictures were gorgeous, however, who’s wouldn’t be with 3 different lights, several assistants, and a large studio space with lots of backdrops. He also pushed his product (which I incidentally bought) as well as other products that he uses. So, I wasn’t too impressed. However, when I got back into my studio the next day for Shirley’s senior pictures, I realized I had learned more.
I learned to think outside the box even more so than what I was already doing. I learned to experiment with different lighting and how it works with your subject. For the first time, I really made use of the window in my studio, and I LOVED the results. I hadn’t been using that light, because I thought it wasn’t a large enough light source to be soft. After this seminar, I realized you don’t always have to have the “soft” look to have a good portrait. In addition, you can make the light work for what you need it for. A special “Thanks!” to Shirley for being my guinea pig, even though she never knew it. 🙂 I don’t think she’ll mind when she sees the portraits that came from it. I shot some senior pictures for Shirley last fall outdoors with her tennis equipment and the fall leaves. Now that I have my studio, she wanted to get some studio portraits done as well.
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