Dean Collins DVD

Dean Collins

Just got a copy of this. Going to watch it and write a review. I haven't even watched it yet and it's already more valuable than the Joey Lawrence tutorials!! LOL!!!

4 DVD set... I've seen a few youtube videos and the guy is MAJORLY in depth and crazy good with light.

Here's a few samples of a shoot he did.

Part1
YouTube - Dean Collins - Part 1 - Executive Portrait Photo on Location

Part 2
YouTube - Dean Collins - Part 2 - Executive Portrait Photo on Location

[RustySterling]

I'm moving this back up top. I just got "The Best of Dean Collins On Lighting" DVD set and it is awesome. Not only does it reinforce what I already know but I'm learning tons about what I didn't know. And what he could do with one light, some diffusers, flags and reflectors is absolutely crazy. The best of the best.

I bought this DVD series after seeing his "Hotel Shooting" videos on Youtube, which in and of themselves are truly a lesson in lighting. He was not only amazing with using/manipulating light, but an wonderful and compelling lecturer. Here is the link to part one of the hotel shooting lecture:

YouTube - Lighting Hotel Rooms pt 1

Everything I've read on the internet points to this guy as a true guru of lighting. Don't pass this up. It is worth the time. Obviously, I'm thoroughly convinced that he was the real deal when it came to understanding and manipulating lighting. In his DVDs (which were originally shot in VHS, unfortunately he died in 2005 and all of the video work was done well before that) he talks about proactive vs. reactive photographers when it comes to lighting. He certainly was proactive. And that is obviously what he encourages in other photographers -- understand light and be proactive in manipulating it to meet your needs. I know I'm a believer. I have seen the light, so to speak.

[RustySterling]

I know I found this in General Chit Chat. But, frankly, it should probably be in the lighting forum group.

One other thing I would add if you get the reference DVD set: Watch the fourth DVD before any others. It really emphasizes the use of a single light, or natural light in nearly all of the situations. The other DVDs really look at more complex lighting situations. So #4 is much more basic than 1 through 3.

[RustySterling]

Well, I'm bumping this again. It turns out my mentor, Dick Dischler, was a close friend of Dean Collins. I've been studying with Dick for the last year about lighting and a lot of his concepts he developed/collaborated with Dean Collins. (I'm a lucky guy.)

So what I've found with the DC stuff is a lot of reinforcement of what I had already learned with Dick Dischler. Now I'm kind of leap-frogging ahead with the more advanced concepts from DC.

I'm a believer in Dean Collins theories/concepts/ideas about lighting. The only other thing I find essential is having the book "Light: Science and Magic" in my library. It all starts to come together.

[RustySterling]

OK, I'm bumping this again. I just finished watching "Dean Collins on Lighting Live at the Brooks Institute of Photography." Some really great stuff and well worth the time and cost. He was amazing. I'd also recommend another Cinema Software video called "3 Dimensional Contrast: Principles of Lighting for the Digital Age" which is presented by former students/assistants of Dean Collins but is based on his basic principles of lighting.

Not only have I had some concepts I already knew deeply reinforced (and that is always a good thing) but I've learned even more than I already know. If you are a photographer and want to know about lighting you NEED to study what Dean Collins had to say and teach.

BTW, I also got the FineLight series from Cinema Software -- which is a company that Collins helped found before his death in 2005. We lost a wonderful guru to cancer. But fortunately the modern age of video/DVD helps keep what he had to say alive.

I'm looking forward to Max's review and I may write a review on the more comprehensive DVD's I bought to learn Dean Collin's lighting concepts.

Let me put it bluntly, if you want to learn about light and lighting, you would be a fool to not study the concepts developed by Dean Collins. His ideas, particularly outside the studio, were not to just take what you can get but to be proactive and manipulate/shape the lighting to get what you want.

Frankly, this thread should never fall from the opening page. Those on here who know who Dean Collins was know this. And those of you who don't, need to find out and ask questions about this man. When it came to lighting, he was the man most contemporaty professionals turned to for answers (and still do do any way they can).

Rusty,

I've been slowly chipping away at these videos 15 minutes at a time. I have been having a hard time finding a solid chunk of time to sit down and watch them in a row.

So far these have been astronomically good. Dean really does not dumb things down and I really appreciate that. His methods are good and solidly backed by theory and serious study.

Once I'm finished I'll write a full review.

~Eric

[RustySterling]

Eric: I have no doubt you will. I've gotten about half way through the 4 DVDs. I've also finished Cinema Softwares "3 Dimensional Contrast -- Principles of Lighting for the Digital Age." It is done by a couple of Dean's proteges and goes into his concepts about Specular, Diffuse, Shadows, and edges transfers. It's also very good and really hones in on how to apply his principles to your work.

I also just finished "The Best of Dean Collins on Lighting -- Live from the Brooks Institute of Photography." That one also was great and really gave me some insights into how he thought about lighting. One thing interesting was that he noted in the lecture that he no longer uses reflectors -- opting for light instead. He did still use mirrors but apparently had moved away from reflectors.

He presented a way to provide color to a white or black background and provided details on how to achieve it. He called the idea ChromaZones. There was an Exposure Compensation chart that he showed that I could not find anywhere. So with the DVD paused and the chart on the screen I recreated it in Excel and then exported it to a jpeg through Photoshop. And here it is:



Its print size is perfect to tape on the back of a light meter or flash unit.

And here is the link on YouTube of the segment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsbGJ...eature=channel

Unfortunitely it doesn't show the who segment but you should get the idea.

Can you explain that chart a bit more? I think I know what it means, and how to use it but I want to be clear.

~Eric

[RustySterling]

Originally Posted by maxharvard

Can you explain that chart a bit more? I think I know what it means, and how to use it but I want to be clear.

~Eric

OK. Let's see. For example your subject diffuse value is metered for F11. You put a blue gel on the background light placed behind the key light but aimed at the background. To get a middle blue you would set it up for a reflective meter reading of F11. If you wanted a slightly darker blue, you would meter the background for F8. If you wanted really dark you would meter the background for F5.6.

Let say you wanted a brighter blue background, then with the subject diffuse value still metered for F11, you would meter the background light for F16. And for even brighter meter the background for F22. Remember, you still shoot at F11 for the subject diffuse value.

In the Brooks Institute DVD he talks about how you can develop a background color chart that a client could use to pick the background color they want. Then it's just a matter of setting up the background light with the correct gel, set your diffuse value and then metering for the background light to get the color the client wanted. I get it now but I had to watch the lecture a couple of times.

Keeping all this in mind, the if subject diffuse is f8, then very dark would be -2 (f4), dark -1 (f5.6), mid color 0 (f8), bright +1 (f11), brighter +2 (f16).

I hope that makes sense. Remember, at all times you are shooting for the subject metered reading but setting the background flash brighter or darker depending upon the brightness you want for the background. So you 0 value is always going to be your subject diffuse value. So going up and down the 0 column you find what your subject diffuse value is and then going right or left to the appropriate column get the light value for the brightness of the background.

I wish that Youtube video had gone longer or they had included the rest because it was really clear with the examples he showed.

When you get a chance I'd suggest you get his Brooks Institute lecture DVD from Cinema Software. It was worth it to me. Some really valuable information is in that lecture.

[CanonRebelz]

Wow! Looks amazing. I may not have understood all of what he's said, but he sure is a master of light.