Lighting Solutions for Portrait Photography with James Schmelzer

I used to be a teacher. Some people thought I was good at it. Jim is a good teacher. Explains things very well so that even I can understand

Most of this class centered on how much he knows and how good he is. I watched 2 segments and could not stand another minute of listening to him. Talks too fast (as he admits) and too full of himself.

Excellent, highly recommended, He is clear and to the point. You can tell many years of experience.

excellent short course, I recommend

He definitely has some insight but could get to the points a little quicker. I was turned of when he spent a long time selling the lights he was using. If he isn't sponsored by the lighting company then I would be very very surprised.. even though he says he isn't... disappointing.

James has his own unique style, but what he imparts is based on extensive experience and a thorough knowledge of lighting. One cannot help but learn, and there is a lot of important and useful lighting information. Well worth the price.

Agree with what most others have said about teaching style. But putting that aside, he does provide a lot of tidbits that can really help you understand what is going on with studio lighting using several lights.

Hello, I like this course, where else if not on such courses you can learn about all the intricacies of mastery from the grandfathers of this craft. This is a cool platform that will answer all your questions and help to achieve success. Will answer questions, for example, which one to choose if fluorescent lamps provide a minor green shade opposite LED lights add a bit of pink one. I showed the article and the teacher even helped me to choose .

I was surprised about the course. The guy doesn't take a single picture for the most of the time! But he's so excellent in explaining to position light (and the lights he uses are perfect for this), you can see live how the shadows changes - completely different to all flash / strobe courses. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

Love this tutorial!I keep watching it over and over again

Fantastic course! Loved the instructors sense of humor and direct, straight to the point approach!

I wish that there were more classes of James! He is great! Straight to the point and funny!

First off - the instructor's personality is not for everyone. I personally found him hilarious. He's your typical brash, cocky New Yorker AKA my kind of people. As for the class, its very instructive. He doesn't show off every single lighting style he mentions (loop, broad, short, butterfly, etc) in exquisite detail but that's because the purpose is to use whatever light makes your subject look the best. He goes through each one, but very quickly. His two main lighting examples are butterfly and rembrandt. The portraits he takes are very high school senior style, but the information he provides is incredibly useful for any other kind of lighting situation. There is a boat load of excellent information in this class; you just gotta know that what he's telling you is applicable across the board.

I love what he is teaching but I don't care for his ripping on others all the time. His lighting techniques are not the only techniques and he needs to respect other pro photographers instead of ripping on them. If it wasn't for his harsh manner and frequent insults, I would have bought the course since he does have valuable information to give.

His actual work is ok, some better than others. He does very well creating good studio lighting. Unfortunately would rather master that then learn how to get the best expressions and personality from his subjects which tend to be bla. Regardless, you can always(almost) learn something fro another photographer. So take what you can.

I haven't taken this class yet, but the instructor sounds GREAT. For all you people giving negative reviews: IF YOU KNOW SO MUCH ALREADY, THEN WHY AREN'T YOU TEACHING THE CLASS??? Haha...oh yeah, you're JUST a student. So be quiet and appreciate the very affordable lessons he's teaching.

This is one of the few -if only- classes (of many) I have watched that demonstrates how to shape average, everyday faces with light and why we might choose butterfly lighting verses split lighting and so on. What to do to hide a person's flaws and enhance what is great. The instructor aptly walks us through the decisions we have to make with our lighting and what it does and why. I knew the lighting styles but I loved learning why I might go for a certain choice over another one. The instructor cleared up some of my bad habits with my own lighting. When to use what gear & the nuances to make people look their best - these ideas presented succinctly can only come from a master at lighting. I shoot with strobes and I plan to adapt some of his ideas to my own equipment. I am excited and fired up! Thank you to CL and to Mr. Schmelzer.

I really liked this class, it is very hands on and filled in a lot of gaps that I had about lighting and posing people for portraits. You can tell he has a lot of experience, and shares some really helpful tips. For example, I'm going to buy a can of hairspray today.

With these courses that are chunks of longer seminars, you lose a bit of context of the speakers. Things like their background and other elements of their instruction that were probably delivered in the balance of the complete course that would have made content richer. Also NO handout for these short courses. I'm sure there were notes on this material in the longer course, but none are included here! This seems to be true in all of these subset courses. However, I did learn some things in this class that other lighting instructors have not made clear. Worth the money....

I thought that this was a well produce seminar about lighting. I got a lot from it and understanding what I need to do when lighting my subjects in different scenarios.

Great course, straight forward and to the point. Loved the material.

An enjoyable class.... as well as somewhat informative.

No fluff. Awesome material.

Thank you Mr. Schmeltzer. Your class was enjoyable as well as very informative. I bought this class with the photo week package and I will watch it over and over again until it sinks in my head.

Thank you Mr. Schmeltzer, you made your class enjoyable and informative. I like your delivery