Jake Hicks Photography - Cinematic Studio Lighting
Course: Cinematic Studio Lighting
Format: In-person small group training event
Duration: Full Day
Price: £349 EARLY BIRD PRICE £50 OFF - NOW £299
Date: July 9th - 2022 - SOLD OUT
Location: Amersham Studios | London | U.K.
What to bring and your skill level: Lunch plus coffees and snacks are provided throughout the day. All you will need to bring is a digital camera that has a hot-shoe (where the flash/flash-trigger goes) and your favourite lenses. For this Cinematic Studio Lighting workshop, I do recommend a longer lens like a 105mm if you have one. If not, don’t worry and any standard zoom lens will also be fine. Your experience and knowledge is not an issue either as I thoroughly explain everything I’m doing on the day and I’ll be with you the entire time you’re shooting to ensure you get the best possible shots you can.
Cinematic Studio Lighting
This Cinematic Studio Lighting workshop has been a long-time coming and it’s by far my most detailed and ambitious workshop to date. At this new workshop, I’ll be sharing all new lighting ideas, kit and setups, plus I’ll be explaining how you can easily construct and light small sets and scenes in a studio environment. Plus, these will even work in smaller home-studios as well.
Let me show you how to bring the location, to the studio!
Perfectly light the scene and the subject will follow
One of the core differences between regular studio lighting and the cinematic lighting that I’ll be sharing at this workshop, is the ability to light a scene in such a way so that the subject can exist within it and look good wherever they are.
All too often we get obsessed with lighting the subject perfectly, but the background or scene around them takes a backseat. Sadly, this can often let the final image down.
This workshop really will change the way you view lighting, as I know it did for me. Yes I will be covering a huge amount on the day, but this won’t be super-technical either as I’ll take you through each and every setup and everyone will get plenty of time with our professional model on the day to shoot each of the sets I build in front of you.
Like I said, this is by far and away my most ambitious workshop to date. It’ll certainly be a very packed day and I very much hope to see you there as I explain everything I know about Cinematic Studio Lighting.
If you’re interested in learning about how to create and build small-sets in your own space, plus you’re interested in learning how to light your subjects beautifully as a byproduct of lighting those custom sets beautifully, this is the workshop for you.
Here's what the attendees from the previous Cinematic Studio Lighting workshops said…
"I have attended workshops with various different educators over a number of years. Jake's workshops are hands down the best available. Many workshops give you nice pictures for your portfolio, but often fall short on giving you knowledge and skills you can take away and apply to your photography. Jake's workshops are 100% about learning, and contain the perfect balance between theory and practice (plus you get nice pictures for your portfolio as well). If you are serious about improving your photography and acquiring skills to make you stand out from the crowd, this is the way to go." -Stoke
“Another excellent workshop. Tons of creativity and lovely friendly people. Thank you.” - A. Burrows
"This workshop was really amazing, packed with loads of ideas on how to create a cinematic scene in a very small space. Looking forward to recreating what I've learned in my own space. Thank you." -Julia. J
"Another fantastic workshop that provided you with the tools & skills to create stunning images. The different sets are sure to provide you with a huge variety for your portfolio." -P.Dale
"Really great session as always! We will definitely be back!" -P.J.
“Another great educational workshop by Jake. Highly recommend. Fun day and you come away with some great shots.” - S. Allan
“OUT.BLOODY.STANDING! Will be back!” -Adrian. B
"This workshop was both enjoyable and informative as Jake clearly broke down the complex lighting setups and providing a good understanding of motivated lighting and the purpose of each light." -P. Watson
"As always, great explanation and instruction on a wide variety of concepts and techniques. Fantastic workshop, can highly recommend." -M. Stanley
"A repeat attendee, another great portrait workshop full of fascinating insights into cinematic lighting techniques. Highly recommended. Thanks." -N. Raymond
“An interesting and imaginative day. Techniques that were unusual in stills photography were demonstrated very well. Friendly atmosphere plus excellent model. Highly recommended.” -R. Mathews
“Fascinating stuff! Inspiring teacher who made the extremely complex ideas digestible and to easy to comprehend. Brilliant stuff!” -D. Waller
“It was awesome. I learned new concepts and skills and I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned.” -J. Mims
“-Jake is a great speaker. -Fantastic craftsmen and explains things throughly. -Great at seeing blindspots so you don’t make the same mistakes and I appreciate the hands-on correction whilst I’m shooting.” -D. Veillette
"Great day with Jake. He squeezed in loads of content with no holds barred!" -P. Holroyd
BTS: Here’s some of the BTS from the day, plus some of the final shots we took too…
Click to enlarge any of the shots above
Is this workshop right for you?
The foundational core of this workshop is to explain and show you numerous cinematic lighting techniques that you may not have heard of. All of these techniques have been adapted by me so that we as stills shooters can easily implement them into our work without the need to go out and purchase a ton of new lighting kit and tools.
Everything taught at my Cinematic Studio Lighting workshop uses photographic lights and strobes you likely already own and I’ll be controlling that light with a standard selection of modifiers you’re already accustomed to. Even if you don’t own some of these modifiers, I’ll be showing you how to create alternative and cost-effective DIY modifiers to get the same effect.
Lastly, I’ve adapted these cinematic lighting ideas and used them as part of mini-sets that I’ll be building and showing you on the day. Again, these mini-sets can all be recreated by yourself in your own studios and can even work in smaller home studio spaces as well.
What to expect on the day of my Cinematic Studio Lighting Workshop
4 shoots in 1 day - Yes, I’ll be explaining a ton of new lighting ideas, techniques and theories in the morning over a coffee, but the vast majority of the day will be spent with us lighting and shooting my 4 mini-sets in the studio.
How to build mini-sets yourself - One of the core ideas behind this new workshop is how to bring the location to you and whether that be in your own studio or your own home, there are things anyone can do to completely transform their space for a shoot.
Time with our professional model - Each and every attendee will have plenty of time with our professional editorial model on the day. You’ll be shooting with the model on each and every set and you’ll each get plenty of time to get all the shots you need.
Your images - All of the images you take with our model on the day are yours to keep and use as you see fit. Your images can be used in your portfolio, website and of course, social media.
All new lighting techniques - As many of you are aware, I have a whole host of other lighting workshops available, but my new Cinematic Studio Lighting workshop will be sharing entirely new lighting techniques and theories. So whether you’ve been to all of my previous workshops or not, everything taught here will be new invaluable skills to have in your lighting repertoire.
Your own comprehensive workbook of notes - As with all of my workshops, all attendees on the day will receive a comprehensive pdf of notes. This workbook will include everything I discuss and explain on the day including lighting theories, step by step guides on building the featured DIY lighting modifiers as well as detailed lighting diagrams with 3D renders and clearly marked kit lists.
Post Production tips - Although I won't spend a huge amount time solely dedicated to post-production, I will be advising on certain processing tips for each of the setups throughout the day. Plus all attendees will receive my Cinematic Studio Lighting Lightroom Preset collection for free.
All new lighting techniques to share
During this full-day workshop you’ll learn new lighting techniques that go far beyond the standard ‘3-point’ lighting we ordinarily use for stills photography. Here are some of the lighting topics and ideas I’ll be covering:
How to effectively use environmental lights (‘practicals’) in-shot,
How to precisely ‘flag’ and control large, soft, light sources. Even in small spaces.
How to add depth to your shot with atmosphere and camera tricks. Again, many of these will even work in small spaces too.
I’ll explain and show you new lighting techniques like ‘upstage’ lighting. An extremely popular cinematic lighting style that is almost never used by stills shooters.
Another popular cinematic lighting technique I’ll be using on the day is ‘cove’ lighting. Again, this is remarkably versatile and very effective, especially if you ever have to light more than one person.
Yet another of my new favourite lighting setups is ‘book’ lighting. This lighting technique enables you to create beautifully soft light in small spaces, but more importantly, with the right modifications, this gorgeous soft light can be completely controlled to go exactly where you want it.
This is just a small example of the new lighting ideas I’ll be sharing with you, and as usual, I’ve kept the best little DIY lighting tricks to myself until I see you on the day. Rest assured, I’ll be sharing everything as the day unfolds and I’ll be giving you detailed notes and pictures on how everything is achieved for you to take away too.
As I was doing the research for this event and putting the lighting into practice myself, I was immediately staggered by how overlooked so many of these cinematic lighting techniques are by us stills photographers. On the day of the workshop, I’ll show you why all of these new skills can be invaluable if you want to make your studio lighting look more authentic and believable and we can do this by simply treating the backgrounds in your images as a subject too.
The lighting setups I’ll be covering on the day
Everybody will get plenty of time with our model on the day with each of these setups to take their photos.
Setup 1
To begin with, we'll discuss smaller sets that can be put together almost anywhere. For example, this first scene can easily be assembled in tiny rooms and home studios.
The other aspect of this setup we’ll be delving into is of course the lighting and how we can utilise and combine ‘hot-lights’ or continuous lights with flash. Mixing multiple light sources on set is a very common occurrence in cinematic lighting, so I’ll also be going over how we can control colour temperature with our camera settings and colour balancing gels to achieve some very engaging looks in-camera.
To add the finishing touches to this first set, we'll also explore a multitude of ways to add faux, visual depth to a shot and we can play with smoke, fog and haze for varying effects, plus we'll also look at in-camera tricks like using lens filters as well. These can actually be more effective than you might think.
Setup 2
For the second setup of the day we’ll be adding another dimension to the set and here I'll discuss how to introduce and implement depth into your scene, even if you have limited space.
The one key aspect that the extra depth in this set affords us, is the ability to use an extremely popular cinematic lighting technique that nearly every film uses, yet we so rarely see it from studio photographers. I’ll show you some easy and effective ways to implement this lighting and without the need for any fancy modifiers either.
One other major factor of cinematic lighting is of course colour and here I will discuss colour theory in cinema and how we can push our viewers perception of colour within our own shots as well.
Setup 3
After lunch we’ll get into the slightly larger sets and with this third setup, I’ll start to talk about using some incredibly beautiful and soft lighting techniques to light an entire scene. Again, I’ll share some methods of modifying the light from film sets and give you suggestions on how to adapt your current lights to get the same look. Of course, no new lighting technique from me is complete without some very viable DIY modifiers as alternatives.
It's also in this setup where I will talk about mixing hot-lights with flash as part of your core lighting, and not just as decoration in the background either. With this controlled ambient light on set, we can shoot at a slightly slower shutter speed to get a more organic and natural look to our shots, without compromising on quality.
Setup 4
For this final setup of the day, I will show you one of my all-time favourite new lighting techniques. In fact, this setup actually uses 3 brand new lighting techniques that I’ve never shared anywhere else and the light and flexibility they offer is truly remarkable.
The lighting here is achieved with standard lights, but I’m using some clever DIY lighting modifiers to get some stunning results, not just on the model, but the entire set. It’s with these new-found techniques that I am now able to easily light any small space beautifully and naturally so that the subject can effortlessly exist within that scene and be lit wherever they are.
Last but not least, I’ve also developed a very clever way to bring any scene into the background of a set that is both easy to achieve and cheap to do. And to those of you who know my previous work well, no this is not done with projectors!
Plus, all attendees on the day will also receive:
My complete PDF workbook of notes from the day.
This PDF of notes includes all the lighting techniques and ideas discussed throughout the event as well as comprehensive lighting diagrams of all the lighting setups discussed and shot too. I know a lot of educators don’t include the notes with their workshops, but I want you to be watching and concentrating on what’s being taught, not scribbling down your own notes for later.
All attendees will also receive a collection of 16 Lightroom Presets for my Cinematic Studio Lighting setups taught at this workshop.
I get asked for this at every workshop, so I finally caved and decided I would equip all attendees with a selection of my own personal Lightroom presets for each of the lighting setups we’ll be learning on the day. I’ve selected 4 of my favourite and most versatile presets for each of the setups taught resulting in 16 Lightroom presets for you to keep and use in your own work.
Useful Links
This workshop contains a ton of new items you may not have. Some are photography and lighting related and many are set-building related. As with all of my events, all attendees will receive a comprehensive list of useful links to all the items I talk about and recommend.
Where will the new workshop be held?
My new Cinematic Studio Lighting workshop will be held at my regular studio in Amersham. I've hosted nearly all of my workshops at Amersham studios over the years as it's a perfect space to hold all day training events of this size. Amersham is on the London Tube network and provides easy links for a lot of my international attendees. Plus the studio manager also provides complimentary pick-ups and drop-offs at the local train station if you're arriving via public transport.
Amersham studios will also be providing us with lunch, coffee and snacks throughout the day too.
Also; if you're planning on traveling and staying over the night before, the studio owner has tons of useful info on the best places to stay locally too. Once you've signed up he can help you with any questions you might have.
For more details on Amersham studio and where it's located, check out the link below.
Course: Cinematic Studio Lighting
Format: In-person small group training event
Duration: Full Day
Price: £349 EARLY BIRD PRICE £50 OFF - NOW £299
Location: Amersham Studios | London | U.K.
Date: September 18th 2021 - SOLD OUT
Date: September 25th 2021 - SOLD OUT
Date: November 20th 2021 - SOLD OUT
Date: February 12th 2022 - SOLD OUT
Are you travelling from further afield?
Nearly all of my London workshops have international attendees flying in from all over the world. There are a multitude of options available for places to stay around London, but one of the most popular choices for those attending my workshop is a traditional English estate that is situated just down the road from the studio called De Vere Latimer Estate
Of course, there are plenty of reasonably priced and reliable AirBnB situated around the studio too. Feel free to either reach out to myself or the Amersham studio manager Simon for tips and advice on accommodation and travel whilst you’re here.
The studio also offers free pick-up and drop-offs at the nearly Amersham train station too.
