Painterly Portraits and Lighting Lessons with Urs Recher

Two masters of lighting pay tribute to the Old Masters – and share their top tips.

In this photography workshop, recorded LIVE, Karl Taylor is joined by broncolor’s Urs Recher. Together, these two lighting legends explain and demonstrate key lighting principles for effective portrait photography.

In the first half of the show, Urs goes into detail about the science and theory of lighting, explaining concepts such as the inverse square law, the angle of incidence and the effects of various modifiers. He also demonstrates how to get the very best results from softboxes.

Karl then proceeds to explain and demonstrate the effect of a number of more specialist modifiers before putting them to use to create a moody portrait image. Using precise control, he shows, step-by-step, how to balance multiple lights and how to use pockets of light for a striking final result.

This information packed show is a must-watch for anyone wanting to better understand the theory of light and see just how it can elevate your photography.

In this class:

  • The theory of light
  • The interaction between skin and light
  • Hard vs soft light
  • Lighting modifiers and their effects
  • Softboxes – How to use them for different effects
  • Inverse square law
  • The angle of incidence and its effect
  • How matte and gloss surfaces react to light
  • Photographing using multiple lights
  • How to photograph people with glasses
  • Combining modeling lights and flash

More information on some of the reflectors used in this workshop can be found in our blog posts Softboxes and The Magic of Parabolic Lighting. Our Portrait section also covers more of the theory of light and how we can control light.

Comments

  1. I really appreciate your hustle. That was a great way to illustrate modifiers. You covered a tremendous amount of information in a short time.

  2. Thank you very much for this tutorial ! It covers so many aspects of lighting…

    Karl & Urs … the perfect couple !

  3. Urs did a fabulous job explaining the difference in the reflections in the eyes based on the size and intensity of the light.

  4. Hey Stephen. I’m watching this on an iPad Mini 3rd generation and I’m not having any problems at all. Must be a problem with the iPad Pro.

  5. You guys really inspire me to to try more and more stuff, you really excite my creativity. Thanks. Urs I really get you and how you think about creativity and seeing images you think very much like me. I have always said that you can’t see an image if you don’t look. But I do find it very difficult to turn off from looking for images, intact I probably can’t. Thank you both for your brilliant tutorials.

  6. Thanks guys, there is so much to take on board. The balance between the creative idea and technological execution is so well addressed. Gemma and the rest of the team did a great job too!

  7. Yes Riccardo this has happened to me also although it is usually rectified when I go back and restart the video. Must be an iPad Pro issue.

  8. Hey folks I’m watching this on watch again and it is playing and jumping back a few seconds is anyone else experiencing this or just me . I generally watch on an iPad Pro.
    Great video by the way.

    2. Hi Stephen, I’m experiencing the same problem with iPad Pro. Moreover, sometimes, the video frame becomes completely black or the image freeze although the audio is still going on.
      Today, instead, no way to watch these videos, since the message
      ERROR LOADING PLAYER
      NETWORK ERROR
      appears.

  9. Sadly I missed the live show but have now caught up. It had been said before that you and Urs work so well together picking up the other’s narrative and supporting one another. The flow of knowledge from technical to creative is non stop. Much more please from the pair of you.
    Are you booked or plan to do any live appearances in 2018 because watching you and the team live on a stage is awesome. Cheers.

  10. a lot of information to take in ,
    thanks I have to watch many time, to take notes
    really enjoy it thank again
    Karl &Urs great show
    frank garvan

  11. I wish I’ve seen this before my last shooting 🙂 Very good explanations! Thank you for all for this Live Show.

  12. Thanks Karl and Urs for the explanations about the modifiers and its effect in the shoot
    which I think a big education for the photographers specially doing indoor photography
    I will definitely expect more shows like this in future
    Thanks again

  13. ksporry

    This is brilliant! I learned some new stuff in a practical way, with some engineering/technical clarification that doesn’t blow the mind. Loved the clarification of how Matt and glossy surfaces are affected by size of light and quantity of light. Also love the clarification about how hard light gives more saturated colours than soft light. It explains why people refer to “silky smooth” and “creamy” with soft light. It’s quite literally more milky.

  14. Cracking show guys!! Probably my favourite so far, so informative and at a good pase, you both work well together.
    Look forward to the new releases.

Leave a Comment