Last week I had the honor of attending Justin & Mary Marantz’s Lighting Intensive! If you have not heard of these two you better head over to their website and check them out. They ARE AMAZING! Mary is beautiful and sweet beyond words and Justin is wise and has a great sense of humor! They are the perfect balance for each other and they run an incredible wedding photography business! They also teach and help SO many other photographers develop and grow their businesses. When I heard they would be in Columbus and would be teaching their lighting workshop, within 10 minutes I was signed up! I had been wanting to meet these two for so long and I couldn’t wait to learn from them.
Their lighting intensive was a 1 day 6-7 hour workshop. Holy cow, SO much information. But it was SO good! I took so many notes and I am SO excited to start putting it all into practice. Now many of you may ask, “but I thought you were a natural light photographer?”, yes yes yes, I am, I don’t have a studio space with studio lighting, and I prefer shooting outdoors. However, I do use flash at receptions, certain ceremonies and certain moments of the day if there is NOT enough light and I need a little help. I didn’t like flash and I didn’t know flash well, until after I attended this workshop! So it was worth every penny for sure. This workshop made me not so nervous about flash and actually excited to start using it more at receptions and other parts of the day! I loved their hearts and their openness to help all and encourage you in your business. Throughout the workshop I learned so much! It was amazing. They actually have a lighting guide you can purchase online if you are wanting more information on lighting! Check it out here.
I do want to share the top 3 things I learned from the workshop and why you should buy the lighting guide! Here you go! Hope these are helpful for you as well!
1. The 90 / 120 degree rule! Now this is something I knew, but the way they explained it was so great and super helpful! To create the best light on your subject, wether you are using natural light (the sun or a window) or a flash you should be 90-120 degrees from your light source to your subject. The more contrast you want and shadows move closer to the 120 degree and the softer you want closer to 90 and add in a reflector to decrease the shadows and contrast. So remember that the next time you are shooting, place yourself from your light 90-120 degrees from your subject and don’t be afraid to use a reflector!
2. Not only did we learn the ins and outs of using flash & light, we learned how important it is to always have a “WHY?” To what you are doing in your business. We so often want to learn how, how, how, but we forget okay, why are we doing this? And if you start figuring out your why, the how will come along!
3. The goal in using light is “Feel the light, but don’t see the light!” I love this! Since, I love that natural light, I loved learning how to use lighting in a way that it just looks natural and no one would know you were using a flash. Create that soft light but using flash in a way that when your followers see it it looks as if a window or some other light source lit them instead of a flash!
These are just 3 things I learned. I learned so much more and those 3 things will already be a huge game changer! If you want to learn more check out Justin & Mary’s website and buy their lighting guide here! Thank you Justin & Mary for being amazing and teaching us all so much!!
xoxox
