What a blast we had yesterday at my NYC model/lighting workshop. A big thank you to F.J. Westscott and Adorama (where I get all my gear) for sponsoring the event!

A big thank you also goes to my co-instructors, Westcott's Dave Piazza and lighting expert Joe Brady as well as to the 12 photographers who participated in the event. Oh yeah, and thanks to Susan Sammon for organizing the event - and keeping me sane!

Back to Adorama: Josh Wright and Julio Figueroa were awesome "assistants."

The opening image for this post is my favorite image from the shoot. The model is the awesome Rebecca West.

The opening photograph for this post is the last shot I took during the 5-hour shoot. The tip: keep shooting until you know you have the shot. Another tip: see eye-to-eye and shoot eye-to-eye. That way, the person looking at your photograph can relate to the subject.

The lighting for my photograph was set up by Dave Piazza, pictured above – yes, the dude on the left. :-)

Dave is an awesome instructor . . . he makes learning fun!

The Westcott lighting gear for the photograph:
• The Eyelighter (bottom)
• Spiderlite TD6 Daylight 36x48-inch Shallow Softbox kit (top)

My camera gear, for the entire shoot:
• Canon 5D Mark III
• Canon 24-105mm IS lens.

Above is a side-by-side comparison of my before-and-after images. My processing:
• reduced Clarity in Camera RAW
• onOne Perfect B&W 9
• Nik Color Efex Pro (Image Borders)
• a bit of cropping, selective contrast adjustment,dodging and burning in Photoshop.

The idea: envision the end-result, and realize that processing is a big part of image making. Tip: work selectively, not globally.

You can get a discount on onOne software and all the creative plug-ins I use on my Save on Plug-ins/Courses page.

Learn more about lighting in my KelbyOne class: Light – the main element in every photograph.

I hope to see you on a Rick Sammon Photo Express Workshop someday!

Final quick tip: If the eyes are not in focus and well lit, you've missed the shot . . . in most cases.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. You noticed I said "thank you" a few times in this post. Saying "thank you" is important. Don't think so? Read this book, The Thank You Economy.