If you’re a photographer in the wedding industry right now, then you might identify yourself as a Light & Airy or Dark & Moody style photographer. It’s easy to just lump ourselves into one or the other categories, but in this episode of the podcast, fellow film photographer, Patrick Le joins me in a conversation about the in-between of the two styles and how it’s important to understand light and master it for ALL lighting situations you might come across. Tune in for all the beautiful nuggets of wisdom.

About Patrick:

Patrick is a wedding photographer based in Southern California and is best known for his Apollo Workshops. His workshops are designed to not only teach photographers how to shoot film without the convenience of natural light, but to also open their minds to their own creative processes and how film fits within that.

Brand Aesthetic and Lighting Philosophy:

• A lot of times photographers strive to create consistency within their work through the type of lighting situations they shoot in.
• Unfortunately you can’t control what lighting you’ll have on any given day, so you need to learn to utilize the light you’re given and still create beautiful photos.
• The most common Lighting Philosophy’s or brand aesthetics we recognize in the photography industry are Light & Airy and Dark & Moody, but there’s space in there for you to create your own unique look that doesn’t fall into either of those categories.
• Its important as a photographer to have the conversation with yourself about how you are going to bridge the gap between your daytime and nighttime work.
• By categorizing yourself as a natural light or studio light photographer, you’re limiting yourself and your understanding of how light works.

3 Main Lighting Options:

1. Continuous Light
2. Flash
3. Natural Light

You don’t have to just choose one based on what type of photographer you identify as.

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Patrick’s Biggest Piece of Advice on Mastering Lighting for Photography:

Pay attention to direction & quality of light that you want to produce. 

When you see an image online that you truly admire, you should be deconstructing it and trying to figure out what the source of light was and what made it stand out to you.

Patrick’s Gear of choice:

Digital:

• Fuji GFX 50R
• Sony a7R III
• Fuji x100v

Film:

• Contax 645
• Hasselblad H2
• Portra 400 Film

Lighting:

• Godox v850
• Godox ad200
• Yongnuo 600 LED panels

For more ways to listen to this episode – CLICK HERE!

Check It Out!

• Visit the Apollo Workshops Website
• Follow Patrick on Instagram
• The Direction and Quality of Light by Neil van Niekerk
• Sandra Coan Photography