Colour 2.0 Workshop - Online
This is my latest workshop, and it’s one that I’ve spent the last year or more writing and developing. The reason this workshop has taken me so long to curate and finalise is not simply because it’s my most ambitious and detailed, but because photography and lighting are at a crossroads. Many of us are choosing to embrace the benefits and new challenges of LED lighting, while others are still using flash, as the decision to use either LED or flash isn’t quite as simple as it first appears.
Topics Covered
Pictured here is the contents page from the massive PDF that accompanies this course. The final PDF itself weighs in at 77 pages, so I really do have an awful lot to cover with this new course.
In this modern era of image-making, I wanted to highlight what’s important about some of the images we love. Why do we stop and look at some images and not others? Why do you prefer one image over another? Are there certain rules to image making that we can look to for guidance when creating a shot? In this course, I begin by attempting to define what ‘beauty’ means to us and our fellow viewers, and I explore ways in which we can incorporate that understanding into our work.
Of course, it's not all philosophical, and I quickly move to the more tangible rules of colour theory. If one thing is certain about colour, then it’s that there is always something more to learn about it. That being said, there are certainly plenty of tips I can share on how to control, mix and use coloured light in your shots.
LED or Flash?
Traditionally, coloured light has been achieved via coloured gels, and although I’ve spent over 2 decades refining and perfecting the techniques to master coloured light through gels, they can be limiting.
There are clearly many hundreds of different coloured gels on the market, but most of us likely only own around 20 of them. Today, you can buy almost any RGB LED light and have seemingly limitless colour choices, and even entry-level RGB lights have thousands and even millions of colours all right there at our fingertips. Surely LED lighting is the way to go, then? Not quite, and for many shooters, LED lighting is still falling short regarding power output. Many truly remarkable LED lights are out there today, but many are excellent at one specific task or look. In my opinion, flash still has the edge when it comes to adaptability, and it trades in a lot of refinement for its jack-of-all-trades approach to lighting.
So, whether you’ve embraced the convenience of LEDs or are sticking with the tried-and-true flash, my new Colour 2.0 workshop will be the first where I provide all students with lighting diagrams and setups for both LED and flash lighting. I’ll also be explaining various qualities of light to look out for throughout this course, whether you're using LED or flash, and all of that is also documented in the PDF.
All new Lighting Setups
My new Colour 2.0 workshop will feature five completely new lighting setups. They’ll cover many of the more advanced aspects of studio lighting, including how to mix coloured light and pastel colours, and multiple uses for long-exposure in the studio for creative effects.
Setup 1
Setup 1 - The Basics of Controlling Coloured Light
This first setup focuses on understanding the basics of manipulating coloured light. How do we get intense colours? How do you avoid mixing coloured lights? How do we establish a strong colour on the background? And, how do we get smooth, clean, and even lighting on the model’s skin without any ugly banding or clipped colour?
Setup 2
Setup 2 - Combining Flash and LED
The second setup sees us exploring some of LED lighting's benefits, including its ability to easily create long-exposure images using colour. This may seem obvious if you’ve not tried long exposure with flash, but the constant light source of LED lighting and the ability to easily choose from millions of colours make this tricky creative technique significantly easier. Here we will look at learning how to separate the two types of lighting and in a single shot, all whilst maintaining intense, vivid colours.
Setup 3
Setup 3 - Dynamic Environmental Long Exposure
This is arguably one of the lighting setups I’m most proud of, as the unique style of images you can create from this technique really stands out. Once again, we will mix both flash and ambient light to create these impactful and energised long exposure portraits. One of the significant benefits of RGB LED lights is their vast range of colours, and with our ability to fine-tune those colours, we can quickly and easily surround our models in a believable environmental light.
Setup 4
Setup 4 - LED Tube Portrait
I’ve mentioned that many LED lights are masters of a single look or effect, versus flash, which is a jack-of-all-looks. LED tubes are one great example of this, as they create a truly unique type of lighitng that only they can create. Sadly, this technique simply isn’t possible with flash, and although these LED tubes are only really good at one type of look, that look is extremely impactful and engaging. This technique teaches us a lot about managing light drop-off and controlling exposures when very close to the skin.
Setup 5
Setup 5 - LED Tubes and Environmental Light
Our final setup is an evolution of the previous one, but this development of the lighting can open up a ton of possibilities when it comes to not only colours, but depth and interest to the shot. In our previous setup, we heavily relied on a lot of contrast as our subject seemed to be emerging from the shadows; now, with the addition of a contrasting colour being washed across the image, we can show more of the subject and their styling. This technique also crucially teaches us about my ‘hierarchy of light’ principle, which allows me to mix multiple contrasting colours in the same scene, without washing out or destroying the other colours.
What’s Included?
As with all my online workshops and courses, all students will receive a complete PDF of notes that showcase the covered topics, along with all my lighting setups, diagrams, and behind-the-scenes photos. Additionally, all attendees will receive a pack of my Lightroom Presets, specifically designed for the lighting setups covered in this workshop.
Included with this lighting workshop…
Comprehensive 77-page PDF of workshop notes
Studio lighting kit list
All 3D lighting diagrams for setups - including both LED and Flash Setups
10 Lightroom Presets specifically for the lighting setups taught in this workshop
