Portrait Lighting & Posing Workshop | San Francisco

Photosprouts Photography School

San Francisco

eBook

Books and online courses are everywhere—but trust San Francisco's top-rated photography school that consistently leads in-person classes.

Online Classes

In-depth Level

Off-Camera Flash Portraits Basics

*In-Person Group Workshops No Longer Available, Please either

1) Book a private class (starts at $240/person/hour) with Christina, or

2) Sign up for the Online Class

Build Your Confidence in On-Location Lighting, which covers the curriculums of this class and Dramatic Portraits

Highlights

The basics of off-camera flash & portrait photography

Modifying natural light: Identify the situations that you need a modifier, and to use it correctly.

On location lighting: add off-camera flash and softboxes. Flashes & triggers will be provided during the workshop.

Learn to take sharp photos, create shallow depth of field (sharp subjects with blurred background), and capture motions.

Flash triggers provided during class for Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fuji users.

Understanding the science of light to make light work for you

Small class size (maximum 6 attendees).

Everyone gets a chance to shoot during the classroom demonstration time, not just the instructor (the goal is to help everyone correct any mistakes in the photos based on the knowledge of light).

Learn the principles in posing, and apply only 5 base poses that lead to many different variations.

Be sensitive to poses that will make the subject look weird in the photos, and learn how to correct them.

An easy-to-follow workbook will be given for each attendee during the class

You don't have to invest in your lighting equipment until you fully understand how light works: A comprehensive list of lighting equipment and gears will be delivered digitally after the class

This class is for adults only (18+).

This class will not be rescheduled due to rainy weather as there are sheltered areas in the outdoor field trip locations

Quick Facts

Workshop time:

10:00am-2:30pm

Length of workshop

4 hours

Classroom session & Indoor Photoshoot

(Part I)

535 Mission Street, 14th Floor, San Francisco

Outdoor session (Part II)

SF Financial District

Posing

Easy-to-remember posing skills

On Location Lighting

Off-camera flash

Lighting equipment provided

Pricing

$450/person

Please bring prime & telephoto lenses

Small class

6 attendees only

Taught by Christina Szeto

Founder & Chief Instructor

This class requires minimum of 3 attendees to proceed, otherwise it will be rescheduled.

Share this class

FAQ

What is the prerequisite?

The Beginner and Intermediate I & II Photography Workshops OR ability to use the manual mode of your camera: Attendees are required to adjust the exposure in the manual mode VERY proficiently.
Do I need to bring my own camera?

Attendees are expected to bring their own cameras & lenses for this workshop.
What equipment will be provided?

We provide light modifiers, flashes and triggers. The flash & triggers that we provide are specific to the Canon, Sony, Fuji and Nikon systems. Please indicate your camera model in the checkout page.
What lenses should I bring for this workshop?
Recommended lenses for this workshop:
- 85mm F1.2, F1.4, F1.8
- 50mm F1.2, F1.4, F1.8
- 70-200mm F2.8, F4
- 24-70mm F2.8, F4
- 24-105mm F4
- 18-135mm F3.5-5.6
- 28-70mm F3.5-5.6

What will you learn?

Here in Photosprouts, we want you to be a successful photographer.

There are portrait classes out there that merely arrange attendees to photograph models under natural sunlight (or at most add a reflector), Photosprouts shows attendees how to use off-camera flashes & modifiers in the right circumstances to create stunning portraits that make your work stand out in the highly competitive photography industry. The class size is very small (6 attendees only). You will be practicing with a beautiful model with a small group of photographers, and receive sufficient individual attention from the instructor and the model.

1. Modifying Natural Light

Easy (recap of Intermediate I)

Natural Light
High key portraits
Lenses & focal lengths
Camera settings, aperture and depth of field

More Challenge

In what situations do you need to modify natural light?
Make the subject feel at ease
Use posing tricks to fully take advantage of the light

The model will be wearing the same pink dress and the white gown during this part of the workshop. These are the photos that you'll taking in this workshop.

2. Adding a reflector

Sometimes, adding a modifier changes the game. However, it isn't necessarily true.

Will you add a reflector to this photo? Why and why not?

2. Get ready for On Location Photoshoot:
Learn how to use off-camera flashes & a softbox

Easy

Confidently change the ambient and flash exposure by changing the camera settings
Use modifiers to change light quality, intensity and direction

More Challenges

Add more flashes: create hair light with another flash
Gelling the flash
Fix any problems in the photo based on the Science of Light, rather than guessing

The model will be wearing the same dress during this part of the workshop.

No Flash

Without a flash, the subject was only lit by the ambient light which made the photo dull and flat.

Button

Off-Camera Flash & Softbox added

How many light sources? Where were they?

Um... the background looks plain, can we find a better angle?

Button

No Flash

Button

Off-Camera Flash & Softbox added

Button

3. On Location Photoshoots

Easy

Find an open shade
Basic portrait composition

More challenges

Adding off-camera flashes and modifiers to make your work stand out
Adding a second flash as a hair light
Define your style by shooting in different combinations of camera and flash exposures: Light & airy, vs high contrast style