STUDIO LIGHTING

SEEING LIGHT

Light is inseparable from photography. If you devote yourself to understanding how it shapes the way we perceive people, places, and things, you’ll become a far better photographer. Learning to see light is a lifelong pursuit—one worth embracing wholeheartedly. If studying how others capture or interpret light doesn’t excite you—whether through a photographer’s lens or an artist’s brush—then photography may not be your truest calling. And that’s perfectly fine. But if you are drawn to it, light will become your lifelong obsession—the thing you chase most in every frame you make.

In this section, I’ll share what a studio and studio lighting mean to me: the equipment I use and how I make the most of my small workspace. Though my current setup is modest, my professional experience spans decades of lighting in commercial studios and classrooms. As a teacher of studio lighting, my advice is to begin by simply observing how light behaves in front of your camera. Start with window light.

Before I ever studied advertising photography formally, that’s how I learned. I was a student in New York City on a tight budget, attending the School of Visual Arts and working at ad agencies. I disliked the city’s chaos, but my apartment had one saving grace—a large window that flooded the room with beautiful afternoon light. I used a high-back kitchen chair as a stage, draping different fabrics from my wardrobe down the back and into the seat, where I placed small objects to photograph. I wasn’t just making pictures; I was teaching myself to see light.

That simple exercise was the beginning of everything. It trained my eyes to notice how light wraps, falls, and changes with time. Start there, and you’ll soon learn not just to see light—but to shape, mimic, and control it with intent.

BACKDROPS:
Blue/Green Screens, Colored Paper, Custom Painted Canvases, Denny Manufacturing, Dyed Muslin, Plastic Sheeting, Westcott, more

LED LIGHTING:
Fotodiox Pro Prizmo Globe, more

LIGHT MODIFIERS:
Calumet, Impact, Matthews, Photoflex, Profoto, Westcott, more

LIGHTING ACCESSORIES:
Beauty Dish, Cookies, Flags, Gobos, Grids, Mirrors, Optical Snoots, Phottix Wireless Flash Triggers, Scrims, Slaves, Softboxes, Umbrellas, Wein Peanut Slave, more

OTHER:
Product Tables, Seamless Tabletop Cyclorama, Studio Toolboxes, more

SPEEDLIGHTS:
Metz, Nikon, Sunpack, Vivitar 283 & 285HV, more

STROBE LIGHTING:
Norman, Novatron, Photogenic, Profoto D1 Air, Speedtron, more

STUDIO/LIGHT STANDS:
Bogen, Impact, Majestic, Matthews, Profoto, more

FROM BASEMENT STUDIO TO ON-LOCATION MASTERY

I received my formal training in studio lighting at Portfolio Center in Atlanta—now part of the Miami Ad School. Looking back, it was the best kind of education I could have asked for. After the first semester, we were each given a tiny shared space in the basement. No frills, just a room, a light, and the responsibility to make something happen.

MY VIEW ON TALENT

I believe talent starts with the desire to learn. That’s the foundation. What sets people apart is the willingness to develop it over a lifetime. If you truly love your craft, you form a lasting bond with it. It’s like a marriage—you work at it. And if you don’t love it enough, that marriage may not be what you hoped for.

WHY LIGHTING MATTERS EVEN MORE on the ROAD

When your income depends on mobile setups, lighting can’t be an afterthought. Unlike a fixed studio where conditions are controlled, on-location shoots are unpredictable. You never know what you’ll walk into—an office, a church, a theater, a trade show. There’s no luxury of second chances, and no one cares if the space was hard to work with. The results have to speak for themselves.

And they must never look like “just flash.” If your lighting feels generic, it undermines your work. In this profession, your images are your resume. Done right, lighting can elevate your portfolio. Done poorly, it can work against you.

My journey with lighting has taken me from a tiny basement studio to every kind of location imaginable. The tools may have changed, but the core lesson remains the same: bring the light, shape it with purpose, and let the work speak for itself.

Take my friend’s historic railroad depot, now converted into a theater. The wiring there is… let’s just say delicate. I only use speedlights when working on location in that space, as I’m certain my Profotos would trip a fuse—or worse, bring the show to a halt. As photographers, we have to consider more than just our gear. Even if you own the Cadillac of lighting equipment, it’s worthless if the building’s electrical system can’t support it.

Over the years, I’ve collected a variety of Profoto modifiers and accessories that I’ve enjoyed using in both my personal studio and the classroom. The last school I taught at also used Profoto D1s, which made transitioning between teaching and shooting seamless. The beauty dish remains one of my favorite tools, especially for teaching portraiture.

And the honeycomb grid—always nice to have on hand when you’re designing dramatic lighting for a product ad. It allows for controlled, directional light and beautiful falloff. Since I started my lighting journey long before things like the Profoto Air Remote existed, you can believe how much I appreciate that little device now. But I’ll always have a soft spot for the days of tiny Wein “Peanut” slaves and Vivitar 285HV speedlights—they were darlings in their time.

I could list many others, but we’d be here all day.

Instead, I plan to gradually add articles to this site covering lighting setups and techniques that have worked for me in real-world scenarios. While it won’t be a traditional classroom experience, I’ll provide practical checklists and step-by-step guidance that I’ve relied on in my own work. This page will continue to grow over time—so check back often if lighting is part of your photographic journey.