P#16 Q7B: What is the One Thing You Want People to Remember from Today's Portrait Photography Interview?

Don't Take it For Granted

Bobbi Lane: I've thought about this and I've already said it but it does bear repeating. It's gaining that awareness -- not taking light for granted, not just talking about how much light there is.

I think a lot of photography classes only talk about light in terms of what your exposure is as opposed to the three most important things -- the direction, the quality, and the depth of the light.

Those are the things that are going to determine what your viewer feels about your subject.

It really goes hand in hand. What's the concept and then what techniques do you use to define that concept so that your viewer actually sees it?

You can't take one photograph of somebody that tells you everything there is to know about that person. We're vastly complicated human beings. We have many different levels and many different depths.

All we can do as portrait photographers is decide, "In this picture, I want to say this." Have that concept be really clear first. Then use the direction, the quality, and the depth of the light to help define that so that you get the impact that want.

To Learn More

Audri Lanford: Thanks so much, Bobbi! If people want to learn more about what you have to offer and the list is incredibly long, what is the best way for them to do that?

Bobbi Lane: The best thing to do is to go to my Web site, which is www.BobbiLane.com. I always have a list of what my workshops are, what my upcoming workshops are.

I'm happy to answer questions when I can. Sometimes if I'm traveling I won't be able to get back to people right away, but I am a very dedicated educator. I'm happy to help however I can.

Make sure you check out the website. I'm going through a major overhaul of the site so this month is the last time you'll get to see it as is. But there will always be links to information on there and links to the workshops I'm doing.

I also have two educational DVDs produced by Calumet. One is called Portrait Lighting Techniques, which is about using light in the studio. The other one is called Portraits Unplugged, which is everything that we've been talking about today.

Those are the main things that I'd like to get across to people. I really want to say this has been such a joy to do this. To all the listeners out there I want to say just continue to love what you're doing. The passion will take you so far.

Learning your technical skills will help you so much to get your great creative ideas out there. Just keep shooting, and keep shooting, and keeping shooting. It is the best thing you can do.

In Summary

The one thing Bobbi Lane wants you to remember is that natural lighting should never be taken for granted. Understand it, understand what you want from it and then put it to work for you. It can make all the difference in your portrait photography results.