It's been awhile since I've posted. I apologize.

I want to discuss lighting. For many photographers, lighting can be intimidating. I understand this because I remember when I started it was something that scared the crap out of me.

I'm self-taught and over the years, I've made so many mistakes in all that I've ever done. But, it's a part of growing and learning.

I started with a Pentax K-1000 and crappy, scratched up lens. It had no real metering other than "match needle." So, put the needle in the middle between the plus + and minus - symbols and you're good to go.

HAH! That was a laugh.

I didn't know anything about metering, 18% Gray, Average scene, blah, blah, blah.

All my work sucked!

It was either over or underexposed, but hey, I was putting that needle right in the middle. Right where it was supposed to be.

I know you're probably thinking that I'm talking about metering, rather than lighting.

The reason I set off like this is that I want you to know that I really didn't know anything, let alone lighting and for me, if I got that damn needle in the middle, then all the lighting would fall right into place.

Easy-Peasy!

But, after I took the lens cap off that intimidation I had about lighting, it all began to make sense.

I began to realize how it affected my metering. The shadows and highlights and everything in between.

But, there was one thing that I never realized that I was doing that really helped me.

You see, I am a huge fan of the old Hollywood Black and White Classic films (Remember this point, because it will come up in a lot of what I share with you).

I have always been mesmerized about these movies and little did I realize, that the way they used lighting had such a huge impact on what I was feeling.

Feeling? WTH?

Lighting creates a feeling. It has everything to do with your photo and its success.

I often look at magazines and books. I surf the net and participate in all the social media sites.

As I look at the photos, so much of what I see may be a good photo, but for me, it dies because the lighting is so standard.

It's pretty lighting. Even. Clean and oh so boring. So, so boring.

There are so many photographers who want to make their photos perfect. Technically perfect so they use all sorts of reflectors, scrims, gobo, and all the other terminology and tools they have read about. They over light their shots.

Then there are those who try so hard to create shadows and stuff that they totally never capture the shot because they are trying like crazy to create a style and look. They miss the boat because they never really look at the way the lighting and shadows behave. They just believe that they can put a ton of shadows in and that they shot becomes so sexy that you'll just GASP!

But, then I come across photographers who totally understand both (light and shadow) and their work just makes you take a step back. It makes you feel something.

What I have learned is that I look all around me. I see the way light falls and plays on things. It could be any sort of light, both indoors and outdoors. I look at the way it behaves. That it can be manipulated and moved to what I want it to do.

A few years ago, I started shooting with just one light. I challenged myself. I figured if I had the skills to be a professional, then I had better know how to use just one light for anything I created.

I use flash outdoors. One light. I control it all.

Yet, I see so many photos out there where the photographer has made that outdoor so perfect, that, again, it bores me.

Pretty pictures. No feeling. All posed.

Wherever I go, I look. I feel. I look at the way light behaves. I may be shooting, but I learn something new everyday.

On set, I pop the flash once to feel it. To feel and see where it's going and how it's going to behave.

When I place my subject, I have them move in relation to where the light will be. I never really have to mess with my light because I know what it will do and I know enough about my camera and equipment that I can make that light do what I want.

I'm sure I'll have some photographers who will read what I have said and turn all technical telling this and that.

But, I know what I want and what I can do.

I don't have to rely on formulas and stuff. I feel the light. I know what it will do and how it will react to what I do with it.

After a while, I realized that what I create is about feeling and not about being perfect. I create what I want and do it with ease.

I had a friend of mine visit me at my studio recently.

We began to talk about equipment, specifically lighting modifiers.

I've seen so many photographers buy and use these beautiful light modifiers, HUGE parabolic umbrellas, soft-lighters, etc.

I then took a simple bowl reflector and placed it on my light. It was harsh, but in a minute, I showed him I could create the same look that we both had been seeing created with outrageously expensive light modifiers.

Don't get me wrong. I am not trashing equipment manufacturers and I love what they provide.

But, far too often, we rely way too much on equipment without ever understanding that it's not the equipment that creates the image, but the person shooting.

So, I suggest you learn and understand the basics much more than you may already do.

Once you understand it and can use it without much thought. you can do anything.

I promise that you can.

I have done this myself and what you see in my work, is a result of what I have learned and know.