Various lighting setups being tweaked by Greg inside the studio/barn that was our home base for the week. I used my iPhone to take visual notes throughout the week - my memory works better through images than words.
The third day, like all the following days, began with a critique of the previous day’s work. Sometimes it would be just the class, and sometimes we’d have a few models or actors join us. By the end of the week, they were all familiar faces, some of whom we’d hang out with at meals or after class. Many people would drift in and out throughout the day, and it was very friendly indeed; we all were teasing buddies by the end of the week. Speaking of meals, the food at Maine Media was AMAZING. The main chef, David Coyle, was an absolute delight, and was so solicitous of my food allergies; his goal was not only to have stuff I could eat, but to have absolutely delicious stuff I could eat not only at meals but in between. They had a whole shelf full of gluten-free goodies for my fellow celiacs, and it was unbelievably thoughtful. Usually, I’m just happy if I can eat something, anything, but the food for the whole week was wonderful.
Overpowering the sun with strobes, as the rest of we photographers (Jeannine, and an actor - hi Amanda!, TJ, me) trying not to burn in the sun.
In the afternoon, we had a demo that involved overpowering the sun with strobes outdoors using the shipyard next to our studio and classroom. We also learned about how the color of the light mirrors the position of the sun in the sky, and how to imitate that information while creating our own light in the studio or mixing light sources while outdoors.
We then drove about a half-hour to an vintage hardware store (full of bits and bobs and books and taxidermy) and used some strobes that the Workshops had provided us with to create light indoors, Sadly, this was the one place that we felt frustrated, because the order that had been placed by Greg to the rental agency (MAC Group - boo hiss) that provided lights for the workshop had never come through, despite Greg, teaching assistants, and MMW's photo manager asking multiple times. We had to use old lights that we couldn’t adjust ratios from the battery pack, which was pretty challenging, and didn’t want to spend a lot of time figuring out a new lighting system instead of shooting within the limited window of time we had at the hardware store. We also interspersed the strobes with a Speedlite. Luckily, Chris Reis, our teacher’s assistant, helped us make the best of the equipment we had, and we got a few nice shots in before the end of the day. I really liked one of the images in particular I took of Sam, top left of the below set of images.
The fourth day was spent in the studio, primarily, with several demos of lighting techniques which we then played around with in our groups of three. We worked with a couple of wonderful actor/models, Juliette and Stuart, and with multiple lights, including an absolutely enormous light source; I swear the umbrella was about 12 feet in diameter.
Greg showing me, TJ, and actor Heidi Hackney an image. Our 12-foot light source is behind us, camera right, which was used as part of the actor headshot lighting setup below. Photo credit: Stuart Green.
The lovely Juliette
The dashing Stuart. The goal of this assignment was to create actor headshots; each image portrays a different character that Stuart can portray - the first, more leading man, the second, more character actor.
The final day was also spent much of the day in the studio, after the crit, and we went through more lighting setups including mimicking high daylight in the studio, and some outdoor lighting techniques with the models and actors. We took a look through Greg’s traveling kit, and he answered lots of questions about which lights and modifiers he can’t live without. He also photographed the entire class individually, to great amusement, capturing each of our personalities wonderfully. He had to take a couple of me because I tended to crack up when I was supposed to be holding a pose. But almost everyone else he completely captured on the first shot.
Greg was kind enough to allow us a couple of extra hours of class on Saturday, right before we left, so that we could see a set up that he’d be using to photograph a client the following day. Again, he photographed many of us using a continuous light setup. At the end of the day, I gave Greg and enormous hug and thanked him for all he’d taught us, before traveling down the east coast, and catching a ride home with Sam and TJ.
All in all, a wonderful week, barring the hitch with equipment rentals, and I would definitely come back to Maine Media Workshops. I highly recommend Greg Heisler as a teacher, and am very glad for the experiences I had, all that I learned, and the warm relationships formed with colleagues and other creative folks formed while there.
Goodbye, beautiful Rockport, and thank you Greg Heisler and Maine
Media Workshops...
