LEARN

Welcome to my learning and education page. I’ve picked up a few bits of knowledge in over three decades of being involved in photography and I created this space to share what I have learned. Below you will find information on my in-person workshops as well as a listing of articles, reviews, and tutorials on various aspects of photography.


In-Person Workshops

Understanding Studio Flash

Come join me for an afternoon of hands-on learning with studio strobes and light modifiers. In this workshop, I will explain and demonstrate how to use studio strobes as well as discuss the differences between using flash and continuous light. Another aspect to this is understanding the difference between using studio flash in manual mode versus TTL, and why you would want to avoid the latter.
Click here for more details and to register.

Finding the Light

In this two-hour workshop, we will go out to the streets of the city center here in Valencia. We will go searching for the beautiful available light that occurs on the streets and alleys here. You will learn how to make use of backlghting and make use of reflected light from walls and windows for a “main light”. You’ll discover you don’t need to bring a refelctor or fill light to get well lit images even in the middle of the day.
Details and dates coming soon!

The Headshot

Creating a connection to your subject is the key to creating an engaging and attractive image. This is as important, if not more so, than the technical aspects of lighting and camera settings. Tethered shooting during a session is one of the best tools the  headshot photographer has at their disposal. Having the subject able to view the images as they’re captured brings them into the process. You and the client end up working together as a team to create that “best shot”.
Click here for more details and to regsiter.


Articles, Tips, and How -To's

  • Light, Darkness, and Beauty In-Between

    “Shoot into the light” has been a part of my photographic philosophy for a long time. I feel the most beautiful and amazing things can happen when you use this approach. In this case, I doubled-down on this idea by adding my light to the backlighting coming from the late afternoon sky. More details below…

    Talent: https://www.instagram.com/carriecat.walk/
    Assist and black roses: @carmen bellos
    Dress: https://atelieranna.shop/
    Sony A7rIV
    Sigma 85mm 1.4 DG DN ART
    1/160th | f 1.4 |iso 100
    Godox AD300 pro strobe
    7″ Fresnel spot

    Read More
  • Converting Color Images to Black and White in Photoshop

    In this video, I go over three different ways to convert color images to black and white using Adobe Photoshop. I start off with the quick and easy way of simply desaturating an image, to having the most creative control over how colors are represented in brightness in the final image.

    These techniques work in the last several versions of Photoshop.
    This demo created on version 25.5.1
    Video created using DaVinci Resolve 18
    Music licensed through Soundstripe

  • Using the Camera Raw Filter in Photoshop

    Adobe Photoshop contains a very broad and deep set of tools for making edits and adjustments to images. While there is little limitation to what can be achieved using the native tools available in Photoshop for more than two decades, they may not be as intuitive and user-friendly to photographers who have spent most of their time editing raw images in Lightroom.

    In this article, I’m going to demonstrate how to use the Camera Raw filter and also show some specific situations where it can really be handy and save time. Hit the link below to see the full article.

    https://petapixel.com/how-to-use-camera-raw-filter-in-photoshop

  • Whiten Teeth in Photoshop | PetaPixel

    Let’s face it, not everyone who ends up in front of your camera is going to have amazing white teeth like the model in the photo above. There are going to be times when you have a client whose teeth might be stained.

    It’s not just things like coffee or certain foods and beverages that can cause this. Certain genetic dispositions, age, or even some medications can put a dimmer on what otherwise might be a brilliant set of teeth within a smile.

    See the full article over at PetaPixel.com [click here]

  • Time-Saving Photoshop Tip – Match All

    In this video I’m going to demonstrate a time-saving feature in Adobe Photoshop, Match – All. Found under Window, Arrange, Match-All, this workspace organizing feature has been around for a long time, but many users may have never seen it or if they did, never tried it out to see what it does and that’s what I’m going to demonstrate here.

    If you found this video useful, please consider supporting future content by Buying Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brandonjackson

  • Clamshell Lighting – PetaPixel

    If you shoot headshots and/or portraits, clamshell lighting is something you should definitely become familiar with. This versatile and easy-to-create lighting setup produces a very flattering look useful for a variety of portrait situations.

    Clamshell lighting gets its name from the way the light sources are placed, with one light above and in front of the subject with a second light or reflector in front of and below the subject. The resulting shape of the setup resembles an open clam but with a gap between the two shell halves.

    Read the full article over at https://petapixel.com/clamshell-lighting/

  • Photoshop Quick Fix: Shiny Foreheads

    Here’s a quick fix that I use to reduce shiny foreheads in headshots (and portraits) using Adobe Photoshop.

    Step 1 – Create a new layer above the background layer by clicking the New Layer Button (or CTRL+SHIFT+N on Win / CMD+SHIFT+N on Mac)

    Read More
  • Rim Lighting – PetaPixel

    In my latest article for PetaPixel.com I take a look at rim lighting. As you might guess, rim lighting is used to light a portion of the edge of your subject. While it is most often used as part of a multi-light setup, it can be used on its own for dramatic effect.

    This type of lighting isn’t limited to use in still photography. You will see it implemented in video and motion pictures also, but the use of rim lighting in movies is quite a broad topic unto itself, so I’m going to just focus on photography here.

    You can read the full article over at PetaPixel.com.

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