Lighting Essentials Workshops

For many of us weekend warriors trying blend the correct exposure with the proper lighting technique is as much about understanding principles as it is mastering the knowledge.

Our friend Don Giannatti has been a bit of a local legend when it comes to addressing the unique challenges that come when you have a passion for photography. Well it appears that Don’s legend has gone nationwide as he has taken his knowledge (and his muse) on the road for a series of workshops that cover everything from the technical to the creative.

From Houston Texas to Chicago, from Boston to Portland Maine the lighting essentials workshops have been packing them in. I think the reason for his success is the fact that Don’s "not interested in auto settings or sticking a flash on your camera and clicking away. At the workshops you will learn to do it with manual strobes, manual settings and attention to detail that is the mark of a professional photographer."

At Lighting-Essentials.com you will find not just the workshop info, but all kinds of cool ideas and tons of inspiration.

So, as you sit around surfing the net all summer ask yourself; are you ready to redefine your photography? Do you want to beat the heat and learn to invest in yourself not just in equipment? If so grab your digital SLR and all the lenses that you can find, head out to San Diego on the 12th. of July to catch Don and his crew and learn how to see the light that only you can create!

Studio Lighting in a Flash

While surfing the net in the hopes of finding a solution for getting a custom white balance for a customers digital camera we’ve stumbled upon a company that has developed a portable, lightweight adapter that is designed to replicate the lighting effect produced by those heavy, tethered, powered studio ring flash units.

Whether you’re shooting fashion or portrait on the fly, have you ever wanted that three dimensional shadow – wrapped look that seems to come from around the subject? Well the folks at ExpoImaging have developed the Ray Flash.

The devise relies on the hot-shoe flash to generate its light and automatically takes advantage of your camera’s TTL metering. Because the ring flash light originates from a circle around the lens, it produces a virtually shadowless look on the front of your subject, while producing a soft even shadow around the edges. For you “gonzo” wedding shooters this adapter can be used as either a main or fill in light.

According to Erik Sowder, president of ExpoImaging, “It’s a great accessory tool for your strobe because it enables the photographer to easily achieve a high fashion studio portrait while on location. We here at Mighty Imaging think its cool because it has no electronics, batteries or flash tubes and best of all it does not require any cables.