July 6, 2009: Anyone remotely interested in the secret photographers' business of studio lighting should find a new website, The Photoflex Lighting School well worth a browse.
Studio lighting is no longer prohibitively expensive. Photoflex itself offers a portrait kit comprising two light heads with 250 watt lamps, two large umbrellas and two light stands for under $700.
Although the Lighting School website references Photoflex lighting equipment specifically, almost all of the content is applicable to studio lighting gear in general.
The lessons starts with a flash-on-camera shot being taken, then increasingly more elaborate lighting set ups are developed, with increasingly more pleasing results.
Introduced by Photoflex distributor Borge's Imaging, the free online learning resource is easy to understand and would give someone who hadn't used anything but a pop-up flash a good insight into how portrait photographers make at least some of us look so good. There's also a series of lessons on how to take great product shots – or as we amateurs call them, “still lifes”
There are a couple of niggles, however: there's a certain cutesy tone to the text that might be a little too much for some tastes, and there's a not-so-hidden agenda of selling you up to pay for more in-depth lessons.
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