Lessons
Class Introduction
04:10 25 Shots That WOW
14:08 3Four Fundamentals of Photography
08:05 4Create a Visual Impact with Composition
07:04 5Importance of Foreground and Background
08:30 6Create Depth in Landscape Images
18:09 7Photos Don't Always Follow the Rules
02:11 8Composition Practice Exercise
10:41Composition Critique of Student Images
05:28 10Keys to Posing
05:37 11Shoot: Classic Elegance Female Pose
14:46 12Shoot: Modern Female Pose
09:04 13Shoot: Rollover Female Pose
08:10 14Female Hands & Arms Poses Overview
19:52 15Shoot: Hands and Arms Poses for Female
08:58 16Seven Posing Guidelines
04:18 17Headshots Poses with Male Model
14:59 18Shoot: Headshot for Male Model
06:45 19Shoot: Sitting Poses for Male Model
10:03 20Shoot: Leaning Poses for Male Model
06:43 21Shoot: Standing Poses for Male Model
03:32 22Keys to Couples Posing
10:31 23Shoot: Couples Posing
06:17 24Couples Transitional Posing Overview
14:28 25Shoot: Transitional Posing
15:25 26Keys to Group Posing
07:12 27Accordion Technique with Groups
07:46 28Shoot: Accordion Technique
04:11 29Shoot: Best Buds Pose
04:54 30Shoot: Talk with Your Hands Pose
02:33 31Shoot: Lock Arms and Hold Hands Pose
04:34 32Run at the Camera and Dance in Your Seat Poses
04:13 33Shoot: Pod Method Pose
17:58 34Posing Critique of Student Images
09:32 35Introduction to Lighting
05:38 36Soft vs Hard Light
17:10 37Difficult Lighting Situations
05:52 38Bright Light Techniques
18:16 39Overcast Light Techniques
10:34 40Low Light Techniques
10:27 41Lighting Techniques Q&A
14:58 42Drama Queen Lighting
06:26 43Laundry Basket Lighting
09:44 44Make it Rain Lighting
03:48 45Smart Phone Painting with Light
07:53 46Mini LED Bokeh Lighting
08:22 47Choose the Right Lighting System
13:30 48Hybrid Flash System
06:42 49Innovative Accessories
05:35 50Gear Overview
06:19 51Theatrical Post-Processing
06:07 52Ten Keys to Post-Processing
08:37 53Essential Skills to Post-Processing
08:25 54Headshot Post-Processing
24:53 55Bright Light Post-Processing
09:45 56Flat Light Post-Processing
14:46 57Low Light Post-Processing
08:24 58Introduction to Fine Art Post-Processing
09:06 59Light & Airy Fine Art Post-Processing
27:34 60Dark & Moody Fine Art Post-Processing
13:36 61Post-Processing Critique of Student Images
36:56Lesson Info
Keys to Group Posing
Groups are always a little bit difficult because group shots generally are really hard to kind of get creative with, because you gotta just pose a lot of people up there, and it sometimes just looks like a blob that you're shooting. But during my course of my career, I've learned to try to create some ways where I could get some reaction from the entire group, and some fun things to do. They always wanna do some fun thing so I'm gonna show you a lot of these techniques where A, either you're gonna be able to make a group of people look a little bit more aesthetically creative and better looking instead of just, you know, just stand up there and turn around and look at the camera, and also, some things that you can do as a group to get some emotion out of your, you know, subjects, and that's always hard to do when you're in a group setting. And so whenever you look at a photo with a group and they're all smiling or they're all, all have the same expression on their face, it's because th...
e photographer did that. Because if you take a normal group of people, right, and they're not all, and if there's no stimulus to make them all laugh or smile or whatever, you will never get anybody to have the same expression on their face without an outside stimulus. You won't do it, and so I think part of the secret, you know, one time I, every time a client would book me, I would ask them why did you hire me, out of the thousands and thousands of photographers out there, why did you hire me. What made it different than anybody else, and I was expecting them to say "Oh, because you makin' the bride look amazing, blah, blah, "we look like they're on the cover of GQ." Wasn't that at all, the number one response was "Your subjects, I mean, the weddings that you shoot "and your subjects, they just look so darn happy. "They look like they're really having a good time." And so I thought about that and I go, you know what? That's true, and the number one thing of getting emotion out of a group or a person, or whatever, is that your subjects mirror you. And in general, I'm a pretty happy and lively person, and so, that's gonna reflect in my photography. So that, so if you're getting into this business, and you want to shoot people, and you wanna earn a living, unfortunately, it is a social endeavor. You have to interact with people, and you're gonna have to like it (laughs). You might not love it, but you're gonna have to get to the point where you don't mind interacting with people because that's really what it's all about, so besides all these techniques and everything that I'm gonna share, I think on top of that, you have to be, realize that you have to be social, you have to exude positive energy, and if you don't do that, a lot of times that group is not gonna give you that positive energy back, right? To me, they're only gonna give me half of what I give them, right? You saw it up here, I was telling him to laugh hysterically, and you know, they're on camera and everything, and I was going crazy but they were sort of doing it, right? And that's generally what's going to happen. They're just gonna give you half of whatever you shell out to them, so you gotta be over the top to get anything out from them. Okay, so let's get going here, and so how I kind of described posing was turning chaos into creativity because that's really what it is when you got a bunch of people and you're trying to take their photo, and they don't wanna listen to you and whatever. But let's go over some keys to group posing. One, well designed group shots are always directed, it just doesn't happen by chance, so if you see a well designed group shot, it is somebody has put them into the position, somebody has posed them, 'kay, and that's always the case. Two, people have no patience for group posing. I'm sorry, they're "Yay! Group posing. "I wanna stand still for 10 minutes". Nobody wants that so you basically have got a few minutes, right, you've got about three minutes for a basic pose, you got five minutes for something that's really, really complicated, and you gotta really know your stuff, especially if you're posing because let's say you're posing a group of 10 people. You start with this, one person over here, by the time you're all the way over here, that person is out of pose already, is not posed, they're just given up, 'cause they can't stand in that position so long, so you gotta really hustle it and know what you're doing it, to get somebody, to get a group shot where they're all nicely posed, so speed is very important and efficiency. Learn to yell at people in a very nice way. (audience laughs) Okay, you literally have to scream and yell. Okay, this is the greatest trick that I do at weddings, oh, they are not paying attention to me at all, and we're trying to get a certain family up there, and I'll go, I am taking this picture in 10 seconds, and I will literally count down 10, 9 , 8, and they are just running to get in place, right? And so I'm kind of giving them an urgency to get up there and into it, and so, you're gonna have to learn how to direct a lot, and the more you can do that, the more success you're gonna have, so what does that mean? You're gonna have to learn to be a leader. If you're gonna be group posing, or you're gonna shoot families, or groups, you need to learn how to be a leader, and that's very important, and that also helps with their confidence in you. When they see you directing and pointing and knowing what you're doing, they love that, they want to be directed, okay? And so you gotta give that to them. Be extremely proactive, right? And so you see a large group, something's not going on right the way you want, you gotta yell at that person, hey, my friend over there, look at the camera, right? And so (laughs) sometimes, it's literally like that. Smile, or very, you know, strong, but you have to be proactive because it's just not gonna fall together for you, you have to make it happen, 'kay? Keep it fun and upbeat with energy, so if you're yellin' at 'em, that's fine, but you know, you gotta keep it light, make a joke once in a while, make it funny, but you still really gotta create, you don't wanna be a Debby Downer in that instance and bring the whole group down, so it's gotta be positive, and there's a fine balance between yelling and having fun and all that kind of stuff, but you're gonna learn that as you go along.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Vitor Rademaker
This course is amazing! Scott is extremely straightforward. He goes directly to practical problems, tips and etc. He explains every thing very clearly, and he is also very funny and charismatic, making you laugh as you learn. He shows that you don't need a lot of expensive gear to make very nice pictures. So I have saved some money as well, cause I was about to buy some gear that I wouldn't need right now. It is for sure one of the best photography courses I have ever attended to! I highly recommend! Thanks a lot Scott! You are the best!
user-b48fe5
Another fantastic class with Scott Robert Lim! The combination of his knowledge, willingness to share, passion & entertaining personality makes him a top choice for photography education. Learning not only the "what", but the "why" & "how" can transform one's entire approach towards MAKING pictures. A constant inspiration to get better & better through practice.
user-9994d2
I have purchased a number of classes, this being one of them. The quality of the information was good and the level at which Scott spoke was appropriate for me. Having a course sylibus would add greatly to the value, which usually is not part of the programs I've purchased including this one, unless I've missed it. I believe the speaker should be required to provide one. After watching the videos, much of material can be recaptured by seeing it in writing. I would like to hear back from Creativelive their thoughts. In sum, good topic, good speaker, good technical audio and video quality by Creativelive
Student Work
Related Classes
Portrait Photography