Philippine Center for Creative Imaging

Just when you've mastered studio lighting, you're asked to shoot outdoors. Life isn't fair—but you can fight back with these techniques!

In formal outdoor outdoor portraits, you think you have no control over where the main light goes, or over the choice of backdrop. Let master portraitist Ibarra Deri prove you wrong! Knowing the proper techniques, and with a mind trained to find the solution to every problem, you can shoot outdoor portraits that look like they were shot indoors, in a controlled studio environment. Deri will demonstrate how to work with the sun, with uneven light, with light modifiers, and with flash. He'll show how to anticipate problems, "fix" location backdrops, and shoot a great outdoor portrait any time of the day.

What will be covered

• Basic principles of photography and portraiture necessary to understand what follows
• From wide to tele: the right lens for the right job
• Understanding the qualities of natural light
• Working in open shade or out in the open
• Working with different reflectors
• Adding flash fill
• Choosing and controlling the background
• Creative ways with out-of-focus highlights
• Correct posing, orientation, angling
• Defining potential problems

Who should attend

• Studio portrait photographers who wish to expand their repertoire to include formal location portraits.
• Professional photographers in other fields such as newspaper and magazine, advertising, and fashion, who need to shoot formal portraits on location occasionally.
• Most hobbyists, who don't have access to studio lights and facilities.

Prerequisites/What is required

A working knowledge of and experience with basic photography principles, and/or attendance in the PCCI basic photography workshop or equivalent. Each participant must bring his or her own camera, preferably with manual-exposure control and a zoom lens or lenses spanning from wide to tele.

Instructor

Ibarra Deri is former multi-term president of the Society of Portrait Photographers of the Philippines, and as advisor once turned an unknown camera club into one of the country's most creative club. His style is one of creative problem-solving, rather than slavish emulation of textbook methods. He encourages exploration and experimentation, demonstrating initial steps then opening the door and letting the participant discover new techniques on his own.

What participants liked most

Hands-on and very helpful insructor.— Ross Allen (from Victoria, Australia)

The activities and the facilities. Most especially the instructor and his guests.— Mica Ferrer, DomFerrer Designs