Full Tutorial On Mastering Studio Light

We have featured many of Mark Wallace’s excellent tutorials with Adorama TV, and it is apparent from the comments that everyone appreciates his simple and thorough explanations. Recently Mark released a full length DVD that covers a wide range of topics for all levels of photographers. There must be over 15 different lighting setups, and he covers everything from portraits, headshots, fashion, and glamour to camera gear, light modifiers, and the properties of light.

We always feature quality videos for free on Fstoppers, but we also realize a lot of work can go into these extensive DVD tutorials. If you’ve enjoyed the tutorials Mark has given for free, take some time to check out his Studio Lighting Essentials DVD. If you prefer a more hands on approach, Mark has several Studio Lighting 101 classes which we hope to check out ourselves next time we are in Phoenix, AZ.

April 18, 2011

Patrick Hall

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http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=847470423 Louis Rafael Rosenthal
a hundred and fifty dollars.
for two DVDs.
better be Blu-ray.
I know we all spend way too much on camera equipment, but I think $150 for 2 DVDs is over-priced.
http://www.facebook.com/stewie.of.honor Stefan Đaković
“You better be seeking knowledge than better equipment, cause equipment is not going to make u a better photographer…” Joey Lawrence
;)
http://www.facebook.com/yajtsa William Smith
Education isn’t cheap, but quality education is definitely worth it. I’ve spent more on a text book before. And really, is $150 THAT expensive? If I get better I can eventually charge a higher rate, thus earning that $150 back pretty quickly. I charge more for a senior session than that and pixels are free, right?
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
Totally agree. My college cost 30k per year and my photo class didn’t even own a single studio light.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=694282177 August Young
$150 isnt that bad considering the knowledge you can get from this sort of DVD considering its a shortcut to learning the long way.
However you can save your 150$ by:
Assisting for a professional working photographer..
Watching tons of videos on youtube that are 50% good and 50% bad and 149% annoying
Just get some lights and experiment its not that hard to figure out lighting once you connect with it.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=694282177 August Young
So check this out you can even RENT this video off youtube for $30 bux..
http://www.studiolightingessentials.com/rent/
hows that for savings ;-)
http://www.patrickhallphotography.com Patrick Hall
How much do you think a private lesson would be worth? Like Lee said, there is a good chance you will learn more from this $150 set than you would from a semester or two (or 4 years) at an art school.
Just curious though, how would Blu-ray add value to this package in your eyes?
http://twitter.com/anthonylukefoto Anthony Luke
I charge $100 hr for my one on one sessions. So $150 is not expensive at all. But that being said it is better to learn from someone who’s work you admire.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=847470423 Louis Rafael Rosenthal
Blu-ray would only explain the extra cost i mean.
it’s not that i don’t think it’s worth it, it’s that I think the calculated profit margin is likely through the roof. kind of a considerably less extreme version of the lightsphere ;)
Anonymous
$90 to ship the DVD to Germany from the USA! That is rediculous. Why not offer it for download instead, even on a per chapter level, as I would purchase it then, but not if they have to ship it over the ocean. Come on, get with the program, ship electronically!
Anonymous
$150 is only THAT expensive because it’s $150 on top of all the other little things that a photo/video guy must buy.
I’m sure it’s good info, but I dont doubt he’d sell a lot more if they were at $60 or so.
http://www.patrickhallphotography.com Patrick Hall
it’s really not that much though if one tip on it can make you $150 in a session. We are about to release a DVD ourselves; people might fall down dead after reading this :/
http://twitter.com/ChadWestover Chad Westover
Mark spends a considerable amount of time and energy releasing tons of free videos and has done so for years. A lot of work and money went into the production of this DVD. I got to hang out for a day on the set when he was shooting it. He’s a great photo teacher and if you want to learn about studio lighting, this is really a bargain for what you get.
Anonymous
I agree with that, but honestly, how many of your readers are making $150 a session? I make $60 for head shots, and I shoot real estate videos for $299. That’s on a good week.
While I don’t mean to devalue the product, I think its more likely/realistic that a lot of your readers are either weekenders, or struggling professionals like myself, who like me have a long list of things we’d all like to purchase that are ONLY another $150, $200 etc……
Fact is, the cheaper items I buy first.
Anonymous
$150 is too much if I don’t get to also have dinner with all those girls in the video. People say $150 is too much because you can ALMOST youtube all of this stuff. Heck he probably puts this stuff up on youtube for free. I GOT A HOLD of Joey L’s dvd and I was like, “phew, glad I didn’t spend the $300 on this stuff, because I already know how to layer mask and losslessly dodge and burn. Is Joey L sick nasty with the camera, YERP, but those expensive dvd’s just isn’t where its at unless you totally don’t know anything about photography. These dvd’s should be $50, where do you get $150? Where do I get $50? That’s all I have this week after trying to date women. bwahaha.
They should give these videos away free with the stuff they sell at Adoroma anyway. Heartless bald man he is. This is half the price of the Soprano’s box set minus the Meadow Soprano.
Anonymous
And Pat that dvd you are bringing out bettah not have that same black dude in it. He’s wearing out his welcome like Charlie Sheen jokes.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_T5EDG4Q4SAW2EKIMWL6VSZTPWY rebeleight
Its not the price of the DVD thats going to worry me, ($100 would be better) It’s absurd price of delivery to Australia $98.14. = $248.00 for a DVD, What is the DVD going to be sitting in Business Class??? Forget it! Im not a professional but would like to have the knowledge and at this price I can have a one on one course done. Typical UPS.
http://www.patrickhallphotography.com Patrick Hall
I think it’s just really expensive to ship overseas. When we send Photoflex the shipping info for our Forum Photo Contest, a lot of the time the shipping is more expensive than the product itself. I’ve stopped selling overseas on Ebay for a few reasons and shipping was one of them. That’s just the nature of living in a place that’s hard to get to. I guess we will have to deal with this issue when our DVD wraps up….any suggestions?
http://www.patrickhallphotography.com Patrick Hall
I think our readers make anywhere from $0 – $800 a session. I completely believe that your success comes from how expensive you are and if a small percentage of your market can support that price (the higher end clients). If you start charging twice the amount of your competition and have images and an experience that is worth its weight, I think anyone can make their business bigger than it currently is. I’ve seen too many photographers prove this point to me that I think it’s 100% true. No established photographer should be stepping out the door for less than $100 a session and if they are then it’s marketing they need to work on not photography.
All that being said, this disk might not be for every photographer out there or every one of our readers. We just thought it was cool and I think it might help those looking to push their studio photography a bit.
http://twitter.com/joshua_tripodi Josh Tripodi
You guys are NUTS… how many of you sell an 8×10 for $60.00 when you paid $2.00 for it because you know how much money and time and knowledge it took to actually create it…. same thing here. Cough it up, choppers.
http://twitter.com/THEGREATZEEE THE GREAT ZEEE
this is going to be one of the best photography training videos out there. i know this for a fact. considering the price of many other dvd packages $150 is not that bad at all. You wont even get this much knowledge from buying a $60 book.
Based on marks free videos I sure he didn’t cut any corners in providing step by step details for operating your $3000 camera some of you bought and have no idea what to do with it. Just looking at the trailer, the video quality looks superb.
I don’t think any one should complaining about the price, its either you want it or you don’t. I know of another guy who only uses one light, his dvd cost $250. There is also some kid from canada who’s dvd is $300…come one guys
my 2 cents. spend it wisely
Z
http://www.facebook.com/ron.moore3 Ron Moore
Any of you guys complaining about the price obviously haven’t had much experience learning from Mark. I have every single episode he did for Adorama to date. His teaching style is awesome and he makes even the most complicated information easy to understand. I also recently attended the flashbus tour where a two DVD set on lighting is selling at $179.00, You could buy the set with your $100.00 registration fee for an additional $150.00,(Total $250.00!) however, that price is no longer any good after the show. I purchased the DVD’s and they are worth every penny. I will be purchasing Marks DVD set also, it’s great stuff! Also check out the costs for other photography education, NYIP for one at $1150.00!
If you would rather buy a two DVD set for $60.00, please be my guest. If you find a set for that price, I promise you will get exactly what you pay for. There is a large investment in both time and money to produce what Mark is offering and he is entitled to be compensated.
Just my honest opinion,
Ron….
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1048571753 Ronin Noh Naem
I actually took several of Mark’s classes in Tempe. He is an AMAZING and gifted teacher. If the DVD teaches half of what I learned from his classes, it’s well worth the money at twice the price.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=847470423 Louis Rafael Rosenthal
I can definitely deal with waiting a couple weeks for something to reach me. Last time I ordered from Adorama it took 3 days and cost me over $200 in shipping (although I saved several times that by not buying it here in Switzerland….)
have at least two shipping options, and don’t make the DVD packaging too much larger than the DVD.
That, or offer a download option, although I definitely understand why you’d want to refrain from the direct digital way. All the benefits, but one big handicap: everyone will be copying it to the hard drives of their friends.
http://twitter.com/Oli13 Oliver Poburski
Mark is a great teacher. Everybody who knows him will attest to that.
If you’re not willing to spend $150 on a DVD set, then don’t, but stop complaining that it’s too much money, just keep browsing you tube for free. I’m sure you’ll find the same content. ;-)
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=541403975 Negphotographycom Gibbs
Heartless bald man he’s not, only if you knew Mark you would think a lot different.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mark when he did the pocket wizard shows in Manhattan
and he is one of the coolest men you would ever meet and a damn good teacher at that.
http://www.learningdslrvideo.com Dugdale
I think a lot people send so much money on a camera and lenses (and lights) which comes with a manual that doesn’t teach you how to see light, they kind of expect Canon or Nikon to give this to them for free. It is a shame that Canon or some lighting manufacturers don’t offer this type of guide for free. But since Mark is filling that void then I think he should charge $150 for the DVD or $30 to rent it.
Mark already gives a ton of great tutorials away for free on YouTube, let the guy make some money so he can produce more great free content.
Dave Dugdale
LearningDSLRVideo.com
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WZFNDSQFYXL2TP3NP2AVEQV32U RUSS
I like the concept. I like the way the guy talks. He keeps my attention. And if he can keep my attention, THAT says alot.
150 bucks for the dvd set isn’t bad, in my opinion, because UNLIKE going to a class, you can rewind, and/or watch this over and over and over. Without having to pay each time.
http://twitter.com/THEGREATZEEE THE GREAT ZEEE
i actually thing that the dvd is under priced based on the work mark has done and the quality of the production that went into it.
Anonymous
I was joking.
Anonymous
People still do prints?
Anonymous
As one poster stated, this should be something for rent. I sometimes rent from youtube and though $15 is a lot for a rental I don’t really feel like a homeless man just pick pocketed my wallet.
These DVD’s will probably be sold to schools where $150 is chump change and these tutorials will be AMAZING for the instructors. How tacky would it be to be a teacher that is bringing up youtube videos in the middle of class?
So with that, maybe the $150 price tag is not really meant for the average Joe, maybe its marketed towards other instructors. And Mark aint poor if he’s got that massive PLM in the background. And yes his teaching still is AWESOME!
http://twitter.com/joshua_tripodi Josh Tripodi
Yep, they do and that right there is why you have no money my friend.
http://www.patrickhallphotography.com Patrick Hall
ha, I don’t print unless I absolutely need to. I prefer selling the service vs the product…but there is def money in both.
http://twitter.com/joshua_tripodi Josh Tripodi
I have friends who sell $500 – $1000 family portrait packages all day long… ain’t my thing, but they seem to do pretty well.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=694282177 August Young
You guys seriously missed my post, Mark IS renting the dvd off youtube for $30 bux on youtube as I posted WAY earlier in this thread..
here is the link again
http://www.studiolightingessentials.com/rent/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLWa5RwSL4I&feature=player_embedded
30$ end of line…
http://profiles.google.com/mi1stormilst Garrett Graham
Haha well said! I just paid Joel Grims $99 for a 40 minute video on post processing. Consider peoples time and talent, it is a small price to pay.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_R6ZADXZR2XBOC3KVDYMBTYB5VQ Anonymous
Yes they still do prints. Why do you think they still have paper divisions at Kodak, Fuji, Agfa, etc.
BTW You still buy yearbook photos of your kids, dont you? Now do the math for all the schools in the country.
http://profiles.google.com/janne.aavasalo janne aavasalo
There’s one thing I just can’t get wrapped around my head…
…why on earth would anyone publish this kind of stuff on a physical media!?!?
I mean you can cut down production costs and get a lot of potential clients from abroad by making it a downloadable content.
I really don’t need a physical disk on my hands these days, actually I don’t want any physical disks around the house anymore taking up shelf space and gathering dust.
Luminous Landscape realized this a long time ago when they moved from DVD-format to downloadable content only.
I’ve purchased a lot of their tutorials, because they are reasonably priced (Lightroom 3 tutorial was 9 hours and about 35€) and on top of that they are really well made, truly worth every cent.
That’s just my two cents there…
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=541403975 Negphotographycom Gibbs
Oh boy, just buy it already you can’t go wrong.
Anonymous
As I said before, what about DOWNLOAD, after all, this is the internet age, or? Sell the stuff in chapter format for download, that we we do not have to pay any shipping or pay for any chapters that does not interest us. Who needs a stinking plastic casing that’s only going to the bin (or collect dust) after it was opened.
Anonymous
Hear hear! I say, make the stuff downloadable. Why bother with shipping physical stuff when the stuff that is being sold is knowledge and not the hardware? It costs about $90 or so to ship to Germany.
Anonymous
Copying to friends’ hard drives will happen regardless if it is downloadable or from the DVD. Surely you know that. People who make their stuff hard to get, makes it hard to get…
Anonymous
Something that perplexes me about Mark is that his teaching is very good and clear, as you said. He seems to have a very good technical knowledge of products and how to use them. What I don’t understand, however, is that when I looked at his portfolio, his photos did not convince, at all. It was as if the photos are technically created without much artistic edge to it. Technically ‘correct’, but lacking soul. That, plus the cost of shipping (why not download?) decided me against purchasing it.
Anonymous
Not available for rent outside the USA.
Anonymous
Hear Hear!
Benson Lin
i wish there are other ways to get this video, as it is not available for rent and shipping gets ridiculous in asia when i do not mind paying the $150. Creativelive does it, why cant this site?

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