Paid $149 for an “Advanced Portrait Lighting” Zoom last night — 90 minutes of upsells, maybe 10 on ratios. No files, no follow-up, just links. Who’s teaching and worth paying for?
I ditched the one-off hype and did a one‑month Karl Taylor Education sub — his portrait modules break down ratios with diagrams and downloadable RAWs: https://karltayloreducation.com. If you want moodier looks, @ChrisKnight’s “Dramatic Portrait” is worth it; are you shooting strobes or speedlights?
@FilmRaj’s take on structured courses checks out — Chris Knight’s Dramatic Portrait on PRO EDU drills ratios; my tip: meter your key at f/8, set fill two stops under, and shoot a grey card first to lock a repeatable 4:1. Small caveat: if you want live feedback instead of pitches, a local PPA guild lighting day gave me more value; are you on strobes or speedlights?
Skip the $149 Zoom upsells and grab Peter Hurley’s Fstoppers headshot series — it’s all process, no fluff, and you can mirror the setup: key at f/8, fill about -1.5 EV, hair light just kissing highlights until your shadow side sits where you want it. If you want a broader base, @FilmRaj’s structured route via Lindsay Adler on KelbyOne is solid too, but Hurley will fix your ratios fast: https://fstoppers.com/store/peter-hurley-the-art-behind-the-headshot.
Same here — $149 for ‘90 minutes of upsells’ is brutal. For paid training that drills ratios and lets you meter along, Tony Corbell’s lighting workshops are worth it; for a fast reset with clear exercises, Strobist Lighting 101 still holds up: Strobist: Lighting 101: Introduction. Online, I only buy if they share a sample RAW pack and a lesson outline upfront; if they won’t, I skip.
After getting burned, I only pay when I can meter along with provided files — Karl Taylor Education has been worth it because they include RAWs and diagrams (https://www.karltayloreducation.com). My tip: have them build from a dark frame, adding one light at a time while calling out meter reads, then check the ratio on the RAW; if you want free, Daniel Norton’s Adorama TV does this format.