Though I probably know more about photography than the average person, I don’t claim to be an expert on the matter. In fact, I consider myself a student of photography. That statement, implies that I have a teacher - and I do. I have several, in fact. Anybody I get to work with is a teacher - even those I don’t get to talk with. It’s amazing what one can pick up simply from watching somebody operate, or even viewing somebody’s work. Of course, it helps if somebody actually makes an effort to share some of what they know.

A certain Baltimore Sun photographer has been doing just that, and I’m one of his students - well, one of his thousands of students. His site isn’t exactly strobist.com as the image on the left says, but the exact URL isn’t important. If you really want to check out his site, just click here.

Anyway, he wrote that “all photographers experience a fairly similar series of growth phases as they strive to improve at lighting.” Though we all go on different paths, he saw enough similarities to come up with the Seven Levels of Lighting. These levels are, in order: Available Light is Best; Competent On-Camera Flash; Overdone Off-Camera Flash; Experimentation; The Bag of Tricks; Personal and Unique Lighting Style; and Subject-Driven Light.

I’m hoping the titles are self-explanatory, at least to those who actually shoot. If not, I suggest you read go straight to his post - I doubt my paraphrasing and quoting will do his lessons justice. If you get lost somewhere, then maybe you should see his Lighting 101 Lessons first. After you do that, get back to me - that way, I’ll have somebody to discuss my experiments with. Enjoy!