Simple Lighting Tips for Photography. No Math, No ratios. — Portrait Photographer Felix Kunze Ep 16

About Felix Kunze

Felix is a portrait photographer living in New York City. Born in East Germany and raised in England, he now spends his time highlighting the grace, strength, enthusiasm and beauty of people through his perfectly lit photographs.

His recent projects include a focus on scientists, explorers and environmentalists, to elevate their standing in society through photographs. His well known ‘The Lighting Series’ is an online class that has helped over 11000 photographers become confident studio photographers, mastering artificial light for the first time.”

Show Notes

• Starting as a concert photographer, Felix Kunze wanted a more diverse subject matter. He then chose the most diverse subject he could think of, portraits of people.
• You develop a personal style when you shoot a lot of images. Whether this is personal or commercial, the more you shoot, the more you’ll shoot from the heart.
• At the start of the shoot in a studio, start with only ambient light and take test photos to see what your ambient light is.
• Get out of the mindset that your light has to be pointed directly at your subject. Your light exists in a 3D space.
• Easy exercise: Take a person you know, and move the light all around your subject and move the light up and down so that you can see the effect moving the light has.
• You won’t always know what “good” lighting is until you practice.
• When Annie Leibovitz does her lighting and portraits the way she does, she’s doing it from her heart. If you try and copy her directly, you may not have the same passions, interests, etc and the style may not resonate with you and it will feel less true.
• Everyday aspects of your life are interesting and unique to others around the world. Don’t let what seems mundane to you prevent you from taking interesting photos.
• Anyone who wants to get clients needs to do this: Find out what you’re interested in and start taking photos of that. You will be better at photographing that subject then someone who isn’t as passionate about that.
• Access is the biggest challenge that all photographers face at some point.
• When you get lost in the technical side of lighting, you can lose the creative side.

Resources

Felix Kunze’s Courses (Use Promo code “Felix20” for a discount):

The Lighting Series
The Location Series

Felix Kunze’s Lighting Kits and Photo Accessories

People Mentioned

Annie Leibovitz

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Dr. Mikhail “Mike” Varshavski

Featured Images

Important Links

Connect with Felix Kunze
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Connect with Marc Silber
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

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