StickyFolios and StickyAlbums are designed around one main goal: to help photographers book more clients. We know that the right marketing tools and methods can empower photographers around the world to grow stronger businesses.
We have a real passion for marketing, but we’re also well aware of its limitations. Marketing may let you spread the word about your photography, but it doesn’t improve your photography. To build stronger photography businesses, we also need to get better at actually taking photos.
The problem is, a ton of photography resources out there are either out-of-date, out-of-style, or too broad to be useful. That’s why we were a little stunned when we came across LIT: Lighting Secrets of the World’s Best Wedding Photographers, the new eBook from Mark Condon of Shotkit.
After years of personally shooting weddings across the globe and educating the photography community on camera gear, Mark started noticing a trend.
“These days, every wedding photographer and his dog is a ‘natural light’ wedding photographer.”
Mark says the main reason photographers choose to only use natural light and high ISOs isn’t because they actually prefer it — it’s because they have no idea how to use a flash to creatively light an image.
This is bound to strike a nerve with every photographer. I, for one, felt a little defensive about my natural light photography, but as he points out, the market is flooded with all natural light wedding photographers. And to a certain extent, it all looks the same… at least in the eyes of the clients — the brides that couldn’t care less about your new package of film-look presets or f/1.4 lens.
Mark doesn’t advocate moving completely away from natural light, but using advanced lighting techniques in just a few wedding photos is enough to set your work apart and get you noticed in a world where all wedding photography looks the same.
“Even if it’s just that 0.1% of the work that you normally produce, if you choose to highlight it on social media or your website, congratulations – you’ve just jumped out of the vast ocean of natural light wedding photographers and into the puddle of those who are getting noticed by producing something different.
“Your next bride may not book you based on that one photo, but that one photo may just be the hook that pulls her through your door. It takes something special to be noticed in the sea of social media in which we all swim.”
Not only does Mark make a compelling argument for using additional lighting techniques, but then he backs it up with some of the most inspiring, useful, yet easy-to-understand methods we’ve seen in photography education. This is what really caught our eye about LIT.
The detailed examples and case studies from over 50 world-class photographers give us everything we need to put these methods into action for ourselves.
For each example, he includes each piece of gear (camera, lens, light source model), the exact camera settings, and a description of how each shot was planned, executed, and edited in post-production.
The only issue we have with LIT is that by giving us everything we need to implement, now it’s completely up to us. We no longer have an excuse not to try it out for ourselves.
If you really want to become a better photographer and add new skills to your repertoire, we really can’t recommend this book enough.
LIT includes:
- Detailed examples from 54 world-class photographers
- Lighting diagrams revealing the secrets of each shot
- Each photographer’s description of the concept, execution, and gear
- Lighting gear guides + EXCLUSIVE gear discounts
- Stunning photography in a 139-page, Hi-Res eBook
(It’s also 100% tax deductible for professional photographers.)
To get LIT, check out the link HERE.
About the Author of LIT
Mark Condon is a Sydney-based, British wedding photographer shooting weddings around the world. Through his work with popular photography website Shotkit, he has gained knowledge and experience working with some of the world’s most successful wedding photographers.
Mark compiled the LIT book to demystify off camera lighting and help wedding photographers step out the comfort zone of natural light.
