So happy it's Thursday! Today I came across a very slick (free!) tutorial video by Mark Wallace at Snapfactory.com (in association with Studiolighting.net). Check it out...



Be sure to check out the workshops offered by Snapfactory.com.

UK photographer Ken Henderson did a series of tutorial videos at a workshop earlier this year. Check out all eight episodes on YouTube. I have embedded part 1 below, click the links to watch the rest of the episodes (each between 6 - 10 minutes).



Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Enjoy!

Here's another great site for information to boost your supplemental lighting skills. Neil van Niekirk is a New Jersey based full-time photographer whose work is just simply amazing.

I love his dedication to shooting only in manual mode as well as his advice for making flash not look like flash. You're truly an inspiration Neil!

Check out this photonotes.org site for an awesome tutorial on shooting with Canon EOS cameras with flash. It covers a lot of the basics of getting good shots using on-camera flash and fixing common problems when a flash is necessary. There is also good information about how the camera meters with flash in different shooting modes. There are two parts to the tutorial -- don't miss the link to part II at the bottom of the page!

I'm in Indianapolis today attending an Opensource Photo conference. Uber-amazing Indy photographer Jessica Strickland spoke at this morning's session about "car light" -- it was something that really struck me as brilliant in it's simplicity (yes, this happens to me regularly now that you mention it!).

Jess asked the attendees to think about how good they look when looking in car vanity or rear view mirrors...and then she pointed out that the magic of car light comes from being surrounded by indirect light of the car windows while the roof of the car acts as a natural gobo (or light blocker) of the harshness of direct light. I thought that was a great analogy to help photographers search for nice indirect light sources that flatter the subject without creating harsh shadows (or cause the subject to squint and create unflattering wrinkles).

Thanks for the great tip Jess! :)