My names Kris Mitchell, and I have an addiction: Photography!
One thing I love about living in Brighton is that there is always something going on, and last Thursday was no different. I had the pleasure of going to Garage Studios the other night when they hosted a free Studio Lighting “Taster” session.
The boys (and Tash) at the Garage Studios were kind enough to put on a super condensed, 1 night only version of their Studio Lighting courses just to give some people the chance to have a play around with some equipment that most of them may never have had a chance to try before.
Heading down to the studio I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would we be sitting down and watching some boring slideshow, listening to the guys bang on about their work? Would we get a chance to play around with the gear, or would we just be innocent bystanders watching Kevin snap pictures of glamorous models and let us look at the back of the camera?
Well, upon arrival I have to admit, I was a little worried - There were two white boxes towards the far end of the studio and a projector setup on a table, however, after a very short 15 minute “Anatomy of an Image” & a run through of the “Why’s & Why Not’s” when it comes to choosing to use studio flash, with some of Kevin Mason’s images projected on the wall, it was down to business.
The projector went away, up went four 8 foot dividers, out came 2 models (the lovely Rosy and excellent Kirk), and suddenly we were faced with three separate areas to shoot in!
A “White” space - Wondering what those white boxes were for? It gave something for Rosy to pose on.
A “Black” space - An area where Tash was able to use three lights with different modifiers on them to show how it effects the final image.
A portrait space with a Ring Flash - This was good fun for people to be there own models.
Standing aside and giving a little direction, Kevin & Tash let everybody have a chance to play around with the equipment, interact with the models and ask any question that came to mind. After a little trepidation at the beginning it soon descended into an evening of friendly banter, with people who at first weren’t sure they were doing things right were soon interacting with the models, trying out different angles instead of just shooting straight on, and just having a good time of it.
Unfortunately, the evening came to a close far to early. Well… I say early, we did get to play around for two and a half hours, and learn a few new things. I think the thing I enjoyed most was that there was no “hard sell”, no “big pitch”. Not once was there any mention of any of the courses or services the studio provides. The focus was on having fun and genuinely interacting with the people who had taken the time to come out. It was a short evening, but it was a great evening.
Here are two shots from the session:
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