Natural Light People Photography Workshop

Model: Emily Reardon

A few days ago, Creative Photo Workshops ran yet another one of our People Photography workshops. This workshop is among our most popular and teaches those who attend the value in all kinds of light, the context of it and the methods of its use. It also highlights the fact that great 'people pictures' are found anywhere that light can be found and used. Our old 'find the light and put them in it' mantra really comes to the fore here, and our customers learn how to see light, place the subject within it, pose them for it and meter for it. Sometimes a dozen or more different kinds of images can be made from the same shaft of light. We don't believe that great locations or supermodels are the makings of great photographs. The simple art of 'writing with light' takes care of that.

The other aspect of this workshop is that we like to use models who are not necessarily going to make life easy for our customers by doing everything for them. Certainly they are attractive and need to be friendly and personable, but one of our greatest issues is getting people to interact with our models. So, we use models who don't necessarily have years of experience working with photographers. This forces our students to direct them, even as they would the every day people in their own lives who become the subjects for their own lenses in their own time. There are some serious spankings dished out to the silent photographers who just stand there and focus. Seriously though, there is nothing more frustrating for anyone who is being photographed than not knowing whether or not they look their best, or that they are meeting the photographer's vision. Give your models clear direction and they will not only respond, they will be relieved.