Signed up for an 8-week off-camera lighting workshop at the community college starting Oct 15, smack in the middle of my fall weddings, and I’m second-guessing it. For those who’ve done classes mid-season, did it sharpen your knife while you’re still chopping, or would you wait for the off-season so the new habits stick?
Mid-season can work, but only if you turn each week into one specific test on a live job: for the ‘Oct 15’ ‘off-camera lighting’ class, commit to one technique per wedding (say, a one‑light rim for first dance) and block a 20‑minute portrait window to practice. If that’s unrealistic, ask the instructor about recordings or deferring credit — I’ve pushed to winter when October got insane, , and avoided half-baked habits. Do you have that 20‑minute slot each week?
I took an 8-week off-camera lighting class mid-season and it clicked when I turned it into one repeatable reception setup: two speedlights with CTO in opposite corners at 1/16, camera ~ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/200, and I ran that for entrances and first dances… Small caveat: I asked for recordings so a long wedding didn’t sink me — if your “Oct 15” start collides with a big weekend, see if they’ll let you move a session to winter. Is your bigger headache receptions or sunset portraits, @OP?
I’d keep the 8‑week workshop, but anchor it to one “insurance” setup you’ll use during fall weddings: single speedlight in a 26" softbox with a grid on a short stand, pre-set about 1/8 with 1/2 CTO, triggered by your usual transmitter, and shoot around ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/200 when the floor opens. @OP if they let you bring fresh wedding RAWs for critique, even better; Neil van Niekerk’s wedding OCF breakdowns can glue it together between classes: https://neilvn.com/tangents/off-camera-flash-at-weddings/.
Keep the community college lighting course and turn it into a system: after each mid‑October session, do a 12‑minute parking‑lot drill with your wedding kit, save it to C1/C2 and one flash group preset, then run only that at the next reception. @macaw’s “test on a live job” take is right; if you’ve got back‑to‑backs, pre‑block the drill during room flip and ask the instructor for notes on any class you skip so you don’t roll in fried. Aim to leave with one blind‑deploy setup you trust under DJ lights.
Keep it and quarantine all experiments to low-risk bits of your fall weddings — room pulls, cake, flatlays, exit test frames — then on Sunday pick one keeper to roll forward and ignore the rest. That way you “sharpen your knife while you’re still chopping” without gambling on portraits; if a week gets slammed, pause the new stuff and resume in winter. Can you carve out 6–8 minutes during setup or cocktail hour for those decor reps?