Portraits In Depth

Portraits In Depth - 6 Week Series

In this six-week course you’ll get all of the information you need to make beautiful portraits indoors. We’ll start at the beginning covering fundamental concepts then build to cover more advanced and creative concepts. You’ll work with professional models each week as well as a variety of lighting types- including continuous lights, speedlights and studio lights. You’ll learn about posing and post-production using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. You’ll have homework assignments and access to a secret Facebook group for off-line discussion. When you complete this course, you will have a clearer understanding of a systematic approach to creating beautiful portraits every time you shoot.

Each week we will be joined by a different professional model and you will have time to photograph the model. Your enrollment includes photo release for promotional/portfolio use. So, you'll not only learn about portraiture but you'll also have the opportunity to add to your portfolio.

Several Dates Available

Week 1

  • Lens selection
  • Nailing exposure and white balance
  • Using continuous lights for portraiture
  • Quality of light and Light Placement
  • Understanding lighting ratios
  • Using umbrellas and softboxes
  • Reflector selection and placement
  • Introduction to posing
  • Importing your images into Lightroom
  • Using the Lightroom Develop module

Week 2

  • Wardrobe
  • Understanding your speedlight
  • Using your speedlight on-camera
  • Equipment considerations for using your speedlight off-camera
  • Triggering and metering the off-camera speedlight
  • One-, two- and three-speedlight set up for portraits
  • Understanding lighting ratios and how to measure them

Week 3

  • The overall approach
  • Composition in Portraiture
  • Adding the hair light
  • Using off-camera flash for more advanced techniques
  • Posing – adding variety
  • Standing and floor posing
  • Subject Communication

Week 4

  • Working with high key and low key
  • Lighting the white background with a beauty portrait
  • Understanding the clamshell lighting pattern
  • Lighting the black background for a dramatic portrait
  • Understanding Rembrandt and split lighting

Week 5

  • Hands on student sessions
  • Students are assigned to small groups to work through mini-assignments with instructor assistance
  • Students will select model wardrobe, set lights then guide their own sessions
  • Instructor will review result and suggest improvements

Week 6

  • Creative options – extending the concepts
  • Using v-flats as modifiers and reflectors
  • Special lighting set ups
  • The ethereal angelic portrait
  • The Old Hollywood portrait
  • Simple modern fashion hard lighting
  • Creating color shifts and lens flare

What to Bring:

  • Camera
  • Memory cards
  • Laptop with Adobe LR

About the Instructor

Tim Babiak’s entry into digital photography was typical – he simply wanted better pictures of his kids playing soccer. Tim got his first digital SLR in 2007 and he was hooked. Before long, he was reading everything about photography he could get his hands on and shooting everything and anyone who would let him. Before long, Tim's images were winning awards and appearing on magazine covers and billboards. Today, Tim is a full-time working photographer and the recipient of the prestigious 2013; 2014; and 2015 Photographer of the Year award from the Austin Professional Photographers Association. Wanting to share his knowledge, Tim has taught hundreds of people locally as well as internationally various aspects of photography and post-production.  

Join us for six weeks of hands-on learning!

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