Lighting I: The Essentials

Master the core principles of studio illumination in this introductory course designed to transform your relationship with light. Through hands-on practice in a professional studio setting, you will understand and practice the tools and techniques used to control continuous and electronic strobe equipment. You will learn to manipulate the direction, quality, and color temperature of light to achieve consistent, highly articulate creative results.

Course Structure

• Duration: 15 instructional hours.
• The Journey: A progression from basic one-light continuous setups to complex multi-source color environments and professional electronic strobes, concluding with an open studio practice session.
• Skill level: Intermediate. You must be familiar with your camera (film or digital) and comfortably operate it in manual mode. Students should understand exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus, white balance, and histograms, and be comfortable editing their own images.

Students of this course also receive: 10 additional hours of lab time to complete class and personal projects, free entry to the museum, discounts at the ICP Café and ICP Bookshop, use of ICP’s extensive research library, and a lifelong connection to New York's most vibrant photography community.

What will you learn?

• Technical: How to operate professional grade continuous and strobe lighting equipment, safely handle studio gear, and precisely use a light meter for consistent exposures.
• Studio craft: The mechanics of light modifiers, shutter speeds for strobe synchronization, color conversion gels, and the necessity of monitor calibration.
• Visual language: Classic lighting frameworks, including Rembrandt, butterfly, and backlighting, and the artistic application of soft versus hard light to control image contrast and mood.

How will you learn?

• Hands-on practice: Studio sessions photographing models to directly test setups, ending with an open studio to build your own custom configurations.
• Expert demonstrations: Step-by-step technical breakdowns of light placement, direction, and mixed-source balancing.
• Applied assignments: Weekly portrait prompts, such as the one-light technique and mixing tungsten with daylight, with alternative assignments tailored to those working outside a dedicated studio space.
• Collaborative critique: Weekly group reviews of your images to evaluate lighting choices, shadow control, and aesthetic growth.

What are the course outcomes?

• Studio confidence: Move comfortably in a professional studio environment while understanding how to handle gear safely and effectively.
• Creative control: Acquire the technical ability to intentionally manipulate highlights, shadows, and color temperatures to realize a specific artistic vision.
• Technical independence: Gain the skills to seamlessly introduce, measure, and adapt studio lighting to support and elevate your broader portfolio.

Who should attend?

• Aspiring studio photographers: Artists looking for a structured, hands-on introduction to professional lighting setups and modifiers.
• Ambient light photographers: Natural light photographers ready to break formatting constraints by taking complete control over their environment.
• Portfolio builders: Image-makers looking to use light in a more thoughtful, articulate way to enhance the production value of their work.

Course Level / Prerequisite: Intermediate: You are familiar with a camera, whether film or digital. You understand aperture, shutter speed, exposure, white balance, histograms, and how to control focus. You are comfortable editing and processing your images. You may want to learn how to utilize your camera in a more thoughtful and articulate way, or learn more about lighting or how to utilize theoretical concepts in relation to your portfolio of work.

Students are encouraged to review ICP's Classroom Disclaimer for current information regarding COVID-19 policies, classroom guidelines, and more. These policies are subject to change at anytime.

Courses are subject to minimum enrollment. Please register early, within five days of the start-date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation and to ensure you receive all course-related materials in time to prepare for class. Registration for this course will close one day prior to the start date of the course.

Fee Breakdown