Studio Lighting Masterclasses

Coleg Gwent - Crosskeys Campus invited a handful of creative professionals to deliver a week long series of masterclasses to their second year A-Level Art students. Topics included Printmaking, Model Making, Digital Drawing, Sculpture, Fine Art, Performance Art and of course, Photography.

The Campus has just had a major overhaul and refurb so I was really happy to get to teach in their new state of the art studios - they feature brand new high spec lights, ceiling mounted on a racking system which makes the process of setting up lights a breeze (I need to start saving!). Each day I had between 4 and 6 students, split up into two groups to learn some of the fundamentals of studio lighting for portraiture. We started simple with one light, then built up to more complex setups with 3 or more lights, plus reflectors.

I used to teach full time so it was great to be back in the saddle for a full week with a great bunch of students, and I had a great week (though exhausted by the end of it). The students got some great shots in the session, and for the last hour I showed them some techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop to finesse the images to really make them pop.

I look forward to next year, and thanks to course leader Tom Bartlett for the invitation.