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Skillshare

Portrait Photography Basics: One Light Setups to Make Engaging Portraits

via Skillshare

Overview

Welcome to The Basics of Lighting for Portrait Photography! 

This in-depth course will show you how to use light to create different moods within your portrait photographs. In addition to lighting, the lessons we will go over will also cover how to interact with your portrait subject to get the most out of them to translate into your images. 

There is no limit to gear to use the techniques showcased, whether a DSLR and studio lights or a household lamp and your phone, you can create amazing portraits no matter your gear! 

Throughout this course, we will go over the 4 staple lighting setups that will lay the groundwork to get you comfortable with artificial lighting and lighting the face to create dramatic and engaging portrait photographs. 

From this course you will learn: 

  • How to light the face different ways to create drama in portraits 
  • How to modify that light to influence mood
  • Ways to interact with models to make them comfortable and get the best result 
  • Retouching techniques to polish the beautiful portraits you create

Photographers of all skill levels can gain value from this course. For beginners, you will come away with a solid foundation of lighting and how to work with models. For the more advanced photographer, you will find many of the light modifying and model interaction tips very helpful. 

The elements shown in this course not only work for a demonstration, but they also are translated to real-world applications - showing you how to take these techniques and apply them to beauty photography, headshots whether for actors, lawyers, etc. as well as creating emotional portraits that show character and emotion. 

Prepare to have a better understanding of light and how to work with your portrait subjects. I look forward to seeing the work that you create showcasing the techniques found within this course! 

Syllabus

  • Intro
  • Project
  • Equipment
  • Butterfly Lighting
  • Loop Lighting
  • Rembrandt Lighting
  • Split Lighting
  • Review
  • Edit Part 1 - Selecting Images and Lightroom Adjustments
  • Edit Part Two - Fine Retouching
  • Conclusion

Taught by

Fynn Badgley

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