Time for a little focus

If you are like me, then you have a big pile of books [and a long list of online training videos] awaiting your attention. Forget good intentions, it’s time to be brutal and be realistic about what you want to achieve.

When it comes to learning about lighting, I'm a big believer in dipping outside my genre. This approach found me watching Tim Wallace's fantastic tutorial "The Art of Close-Up Automotive Photography" [you'd be surprised at how much of this is completely relevant to shooting other shiny objects. :)] Okay so that I can definitely justify. Automotive Photography Tutorials stay in.

Anything to do with small flash has a really good chance of staying on the list. In this case it comes down accessibility of info [i.e. how easy to watch or read].

Food photography is another area I really want to learn more about, and is something that I can really use; so food photography is in.

HDR on the other hand, is out. There are some really beautiful HDR images being created out there, but personally it's just not for me. With a finite amount of time and an ever growing list of resources to tempt me, I have to make the cut.

Lightroom is also out. I'm a big fan of Photoshop and still have so much to learn. I know Lightroom is an excellent program but just isn't for me.

Even though I've now slashed my lists by a third, there is still a lot I want to get through and quite frankly I've been a little slack about it. So here is my list of things I want read/watch this year.

Perhaps it is a tad ambitious but it is by no means set in stone. There will definitely be additions and perhaps even a few items will drop off. But I wanted to put it out there as a motivational kick.

What are you doing for self-education this year? :)

DVDs:

• Language of Light - Joe McNally
• Lighting in Layers - David Hobby

Books:

• Exposure for Outdoor Photography - Michael Frye
• Food Photography - Nicole S. Young 
• Hollywood Lighting from the Silent Era to Film Noir - Patrick Keating
• Lighting Interiors - Scott Hargis  
• Lighting Notebook - Kevin Kubotas 
• Making Light 2 - Peter Van Den Eynde 
• Nik Software Captured - Tony L. Corbell, Joshua A. Haftel 
• Sketching the Light - Joe McNally
• Speedliter's Handbook - Syl Arena

Online training [Kelby Training]:

• Architectural Photography - Richard Riley
• Creative Lighting for Photographers - Joe McNally
• Crushing the Composition - Scott Kelby
• Edgy Photography - Calvin Hollywood
• Food Photography Part 2 - Joe Glyda
• Freeze Motion Photography - Frank Doorhof
• Light Shaping Tools 1 & 2 - Joe McNally
• Mastering multiple exposures using advanced flash techniques - Joe McNally
• Multiple Flash - Syl Arena
• One Light Lighting - Richard Riley
• Photographing with one light - Joe McNally
• Professional Techniques for Composite Photography Part 2 - Joel Grimes
• Why Fake it when you can create it - Frank Doorhof

Other video training:

• Dramatic Post-production - David Nightingale
• Calvanize - Calvin Hollywood