Learn how to capture unique portraits by exploring different professional studio lighting setups
As the very foundation of portrait photography, lighting allows photographers to capture the beauty and authenticity of real people. By understanding how light and shadows work together, photographer Julia Robbs is able to create striking portraits that remain true to her subjects. Using the best lighting for the story, her photography helps beauty, fashion, and lifestyle brands stay authentic, including Erno Lazlo, Dropbox, Harry’s, Urban Outfitters, Refinery29, Etsy, and Mailchimp.
In this course, Julia teaches her go-to studio lighting techniques for achieving high-quality portraits under any indoor setup, including natural light, beauty shots, and experimenting with filters and gels. Learn how to control lighting to create images that are not only aesthetically beautiful, but which also remain faithful to your story.
What will you learn in this online course?
13 lessons & 16 downloads
What Will We Do in this Course?
1 minute, 46 seconds
Understanding the Basics of Lighting
7 minutes, 25 seconds
Putting the Mood Board Together
7 minutes, 11 seconds
Setting up for Tethered Capture
9 minutes, 24 seconds
Setting up Your Studio for Shooting
7 minutes, 46 seconds
Soft Natural Light
7 minutes, 39 seconds
What's included in this course?
Get started by meeting Julia Robbs, a NYC-based commercial photographer and your teacher for this course. Julia begins by telling you about her journey into photography and introduces some projects and people that inspire her work. Take a quick look at how the course is structured and get ready to discover studio lighting!
Learn about the three foundations of lighting for photography: distance, direction, and shape. Lighting is what sets the tone of a photograph, so it’s important to understand how to establish a strong foundation for shooting under any lighting scenario. Discover how Julia conceptualizes a shoot and then puts together a mood board for inspiration. Go through your tools and equipment before learning how to set things up in your studio.
Set up your camera for shooting with Capture One and see how to share images directly with a team. Explore three different studio lighting scenarios. Start with natural light, the first and easiest place to start. Then, see how to set the lighting for a beauty shoot, starting with one light source and adding another to see how it changes the mood. Finally, experiment with a creative lighting setup using some colored gels and filters.
Join Julia as she shows you her steps to take on post-production and editing. She shows you how she makes her selection and the basic adjustments she makes in Adobe Lightroom before making final edits in Photoshop. Finish by seeing how to export your final images in high quality, whether for print or sharing online.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
Create three final images with three different studio lighting techniques: daylight, beauty, and creative.
Who is this online course for?
This course is for amateur and semi-professional photographers who would like to learn or improve their studio lighting techniques.
Requirements and materials
To take this course, basic knowledge of photography and Adobe Photoshop is recommended.
You will need a DSLR camera with a lens, studio lighting, a USB cable to shoot tethered, and a computer with Capture One and Adobe Photoshop installed.
Reviews
- 7 months ago
i enjoyed it but it could be more detailed!
- 2 years ago
Muy buen curso, práctico, puntual, muy buenos ejemplos y muy buena edición
- 3 years ago
Gostei muito! Muito boa explicação sobre as várias formas de iluminação.
- 3 years ago
ok
- 3 years ago
Sorry, but I have to say that I found the course very disappointing. I hardly learned anything about studio lighting. She only made rudimentary settings and didn't explain anything in depth. You really can't learn anything from someone saying that she does something that way because she likes it (and that's what she usually says).
Julia’s photography allows her to travel the world while developing her craft, and covers a wide range of fields, including lifestyle, portraiture, beauty, and fashion. Her client list includes Erno Laszlo, Odette NY, Refinery29, Etsy, Dropbox, Armand de Brignac, Urban Outfitters, Mailchimp, and more.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Introduction
- Influences
- What Will We Do in this Course?
- U2
The Fundamentals
- Understanding the Basics of Lighting
- Putting the Mood Board Together
- Setting up for Tethered Capture
- Setting up Your Studio for Shooting
- U3
Studio Lighting
- Soft Natural Light
- Beauty Lighting: Two Ways
- Studio Photography Using Gels
- U4
Post-Production
- Post-Production and Editing
- Fine-Tune Editing in Photoshop
- Exporting
- FP
Final project
- Studio Lighting 101
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Yes, this course is designed for intermediate photographers who want to deepen their understanding of portrait and studio lighting techniques.
You’ll need a DSLR or mirrorless camera, basic lighting gear (like strobes, softboxes, and reflectors), and a computer with Capture One and Photoshop installed.
You’ll learn how to use natural and studio lighting, control light direction and quality, apply modifiers, create mood boards, and edit portraits in Capture One and Photoshop.
Yes, the course teaches how to use color gels and creative lighting setups to achieve artistic and bold looks in studio portraits.
Yes, you’ll master techniques for working with natural daylight, studio strobes, and combining both for unique portrait effects.
Yes, the course covers post-processing workflows, including retouching skin, adjusting color and exposure, and preparing images for final export.
You’ll learn how to build and share mood boards using Google Slides and Pinterest to communicate your creative vision and organize references.