PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to gain access to the hi-res print version of the book.

-Donations may be made via Apple Pay, Credit Card or PayPal (credit card & PayPal options are found under the big Apple Pay button).

Book 1 - Understanding Light

1. Understanding Light - Introduction

   -Pages 04 - 11

2. Objective & Subjective Lighting - How I teach portrait lighting

   -Pages 12 - 17

3. Reading the Light - How Shooting with gels can improve your white-light photography

   -Pages 18 - 26

4. 5 Classic Portrait Lighting Mistakes You Might be Making - …and how to avoid them

   -Pages 27 - 39

5. Lighting Modifiers - Understanding the type of light each modifier produces

   -Pages 40 - 43

6. Useful Links - Not really. Just self promotion

   -Pages 45 - 48

1. Understanding Light

This first chapter looks at a ‘self taught’ generation of photographers and aims to guide those that are trying to teach themselves via a trial and error approach. No matter what level you’re at with your photography, you are teaching yourself and this sections aims to give you a little more structure when trying to do that.

2. Objective and Subjective Lighting

There are certainly no right and wrong ways to light a portrait, but there are ways to structure light so that it’s subconsciously more appealing to viewers. What makes one images lighting speak to you more than others? Why are you drawn to the lighting in one image more than another? This chapter looks at what to avoid and what to do make your images stand out for the right reasons.

3. Reading the Light

Coloured gel photography isn’t for everyone, but in this chapter I look at how powerful it can be at teaching you to not only read the light, but also improve your lighting skills in general. So even if you decide to never use gelled lighting again, the skills learnt from using them can be transferred to your white lighting images with ease.

4. 5 Classic Portrait Lighting Mistakes

Although there is no ‘perfect’ image, there are most certainly triggers or touch-points in portraits that make them visually more appealing to look at. In this chapter I look at the 5 most common mistakes I see with portrait lighting and how to avoid them in the future.

5. Lighting Modifiers

Whatever lighting system you use, the lighting modifiers we attach to the light is what ultimately shapes and throws the light on our subjects. Understanding what each modifier does is crucial to choosing the right modifier for each subject and environment. This section looks at ‘reflected modifiers’, diffused light modifiers’ and ‘hard light modifiers’.

6. Thanks

This final section sums up my thoughts on what we’ve learnt so far and the importance of it. Plus, it also includes some useful links for further learning.

Don’t Miss Book 2 - Coming Soon…

Keep your eyes open for Book 2 where I’ll be going over some more practical tips with regards to shooting in the studio.

I’ll share ‘must-have’ items for your kit bag, discuss the best lens for portraits, how to contact and book professional models for your next shoot, plus I‘ll also provide you with an exercise that enables you to unlock your photographic style.

Good News: If you’ve downloaded Book 1, you’ll be among the first to know when Book 2 is released via the email you provided.

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to this book and you may download it for free, any and all support is always greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to gain access to the hi-res print version of the book.

-Donations may be made via Apple Pay, Credit Card or PayPal (credit card & PayPal options are found under the big Apple Pay button).