Continuing Education: A review of the Magic of Light Workshop // Dublin, Ohio photographer

Every year as winter nears I take an online photography class in order to spark some inspiration and find food for thought to mull over during the quieter months. In years past I’ve covered topics like in-home newborn sessions, business education, and photographing the beauty in the every day. This year I signed up for (and got into!!) a class I’ve had my eye on for awhile: the Magic of Light Workshop offered through Illuminate classes.

Let me start by sharing the basic information about the class: it’s a very popular class taught a few times each year by Summer Murdock that covers methods for shooting successfully in all types of light: full sun, back light, overcast, indoors, artificial - truly any situation you could potentially find yourself in is covered.

Admittedly, I didn’t go into the class thinking I would learn anything new, and signed up moreso to find inspiration. I have been shooting literally every day for the past two years, and figured I had encountered all types of possible natural light scenarios so what new things could I really learn?

Turns out I was WAY wrong about that. I learned how different focal lengths and lenses could produce very distinctive in-camera effects when creating flare and haze, how to make artificial lighting work in my favor, exercises for sparking creativity and inspiration, and maybe most importantly I learned how to spot meter for consistently correct exposure. The last one has completely changed the way I photograph.

I used to meter off of the entire scene or use my electronic viewfinder to determine proper exposure - which was working out pretty decently but could be hard to determine in harsh or backlit lighting conditions. I feel so much more confident and in-control now as I continue to play with and (hopefully) master spot metering.

Illuminate classes offer the option to sign up as either an active or a silent student, with active students receiving thorough feedback about their assignments and more attention from the instructors. I signed up as a silent student because I was uncertain how much I’d be able to participate, given that the class partially overlapped my busiest season. Turns out I did have time for it because the class was so interesting that I wanted to make time for it, but even as a silent student I felt like I was part of the larger group. Although the instructor was not permitted to give a critique of my work, the other students and I were able to offer our own encouragement and feedback on each other’s work. And if any of us had a question Summer was incredibly thorough, thoughtful, gracious, and quick with her response. This is a class I will probably sign up for again in the future. Every time I go back through the coursework I pick up something new, and would love to participate as an active student to get the added benefit of an in-depth critique of my images. In the meantime, here are a few pictures I made based on our assignments.