Academy Access

The Academy with John Gress

Academy Access

THE LATEST

Come along as I give a tour of my new studio! Including a lot of the gear I have in the space!
01/07/2023
Gear , Pre-Production

Studio Tour: John Gress’s Chicago Portrait Photography Studio

Follow along in this months member exclusive tutorial as I work with Derrick to update his portfolio with new body shots and suit pics.
01/03/2023
Exclusive Training Videos

Member Exclusive: Updating Derrick’s Portfolio

In this video I break down three unique one light setups step-by-step.
12/24/2022
Lighting Technique

Learn 3 One Light Setups in Only 10 Minutes!

After working with Abena in Colorado, she came to my new studio to Chicago for a portfolio shoot. In the second half of the video I use my new set for the first time.
12/12/2022
Exclusive Training Videos

Member Exclusive: Helping Abena build her commercial portfolio

Learn how I built this set step-by-step and then watch as I use it for the very first time during a photoshoot.
12/02/2022
Lighting Technique , Pre-Production

How to build this set from scratch!

Professionals need to own 18 lights if they want to have gratuitous silly fun!
11/26/2022
Lighting Technique

Why a 3 light kit won’t cut it!

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EXCLUSIVE TRAINING VIDEOS

Follow along in this months member exclusive tutorial as I work with Derrick to update his portfolio with new body shots and suit pics.
01/03/2023
Exclusive Training Videos

Member Exclusive: Updating Derrick’s Portfolio

After working with Abena in Colorado, she came to my new studio to Chicago for a portfolio shoot. In the second half of the video I use my new set for the first time.
12/12/2022
Exclusive Training Videos

Member Exclusive: Helping Abena build her commercial portfolio

Greating commercial portfolio images and a special gels look for Jakes new portfolio.
11/22/2022
Exclusive Training Videos

Tasting the rainbow with Jake

In this Member Exclusive tutorial, I start off my creating some images with movement, then I blend natural light with flash and finally I create new headshots for Derrick's portfolio.
10/11/2022
Exclusive Training Videos

Member Exclusive: Moving Forward with Derrick

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LIVE SESSIONS

11/22/2022
Live

Live: Q&A and Critique November 20, 2022

In this video we go over strategies for shooting outside and masking in post.
08/10/2022
Live

Live: Q&A and Critique August 6, 2022

In this video we go over strategies for shooting outside and using short lighting to make your subjects look thinner.
07/10/2022
Live

Live: Q&A and Critique July 9, 2022

07/02/2022
Live

Live: Q&A and Critique June 24, 2022

This this critique video we go over refining portrait lighting and I also use the tail of a model air plane to represent a persons nose!
06/06/2022
Live

Live: Q&A and Critique June 4, 2022

In addition to the critique we talked did a deep drive on hair lights, clam shell lighting and more.
05/26/2022
Live

Live: Q&A and Critique May 24, 2022

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GEAR

Come along as I give a tour of my new studio! Including a lot of the gear I have in the space!
01/07/2023
Gear , Pre-Production

Studio Tour: John Gress’s Chicago Portrait Photography Studio

Come along as I give a tour of my new studio! Including a lot of the gear I have in the space!

in this head to head shootout I am going to test 6 different modifer options that you can use in your next beauty shoot. Please let us know in the comments below which one you prefer close up and at 1 meter.
10/13/2022
Gear , Lighting Technique

Beauty Dish vs. Softbox – which one is better for beauty photography?

in this head to head shootout I am going to test 6 different modifer options that you can use in your next beauty shoot....

In today's video I share the 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit besides lights and modifiers.
10/09/2022
Fundamentals , Gear , Video

The 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit!

In today's video I share the 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit besides lights and modifiers.

In countless videos and classes I have seen people misrepresent this key lighting concept. Negative fill doesn't suck light out of the shadows, it blocks light from entering. Watch as I prove it to you in three demonstrations.
10/03/2022
Gear , Lighting Technique

They have been lying to you about negative fill!

In countless videos and classes I have seen people misrepresent this key lighting concept. Negative fill doesn't suck light out of the shadows, it...

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FUNDAMENTALS

In today's video I share the 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit besides lights and modifiers.
11/07/2022
Fundamentals , Post-Production

The 4 secrets that every new photographer needs to know in order to become a successful professional

Learn why shutter speeds often don't have a lot of impact when you're shooting with flash in the studio. However, it's a whole different situation when you're on location.
11/01/2022
Fundamentals

Why shutter speeds don’t matter when you’re using flash

You could also think as this as a beginners guide or exposure for dummies! in this video today I’m going to explain exposure or what people have started to refer to as the exposure triangle. if you’e looked down at your camera and seen a bunch of numbers and didn’t really know what they were, then this video today will explain what how all of those numbers work together to create a photo that isn’t too bright or to dark and how each of them affect your photos.
10/17/2022
Fundamentals

Learn how to use the exposure triangle in under 15 minutes to master manual exposure settings

In today's video I share the 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit besides lights and modifiers.
10/09/2022
Fundamentals , Gear , Video

The 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit!

READ MORE

BEFORE THE SHOOT

In today's video I share the 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit besides lights and modifiers.
11/07/2022
Fundamentals , Post-Production

The 4 secrets that every new photographer needs to know in order to become a successful professional

Learn why shutter speeds often don't have a lot of impact when you're shooting with flash in the studio. However, it's a whole different situation when you're on location.
11/01/2022
Fundamentals

Why shutter speeds don’t matter when you’re using flash

You could also think as this as a beginners guide or exposure for dummies! in this video today I’m going to explain exposure or what people have started to refer to as the exposure triangle. if you’e looked down at your camera and seen a bunch of numbers and didn’t really know what they were, then this video today will explain what how all of those numbers work together to create a photo that isn’t too bright or to dark and how each of them affect your photos.
10/17/2022
Fundamentals

Learn how to use the exposure triangle in under 15 minutes to master manual exposure settings

In today's video I share the 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit besides lights and modifiers.
10/09/2022
Fundamentals , Gear , Video

The 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit!

READ MORE

BUSINESS

6 Ways You Can Improve Your Business in Only 1 Hour
08/08/2022
Business

6 Ways You Can Improve Your Business in Only 1 Hour

Photographers love to tag their work before posting them online. However, they will come back to haunt you and bite you in the ass! Unless of course the watermark is on a proof.
01/17/2022
Business

Why watermarking your images for social media is a bad idea

In today's video I wanted to share with you 3 key strategies for building a successful photography business. While I am coming at this from the perspective of a commercial photographer, I think the advice will ring true regardless of your genre.
01/10/2022
Business

3 Tips For How to be a Successful Professional Photographer

Studio Tour: John Gress's New Chicago Portait Photogray Studio
09/30/2021
Business

Studio Tour: John Gress’s New Chicago Portait Photogray Studio

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LIGHTING TECHNIQUES

In this video I break down three unique one light setups step-by-step.
12/24/2022
Lighting Technique

Learn 3 One Light Setups in Only 10 Minutes!

Learn how I built this set step-by-step and then watch as I use it for the very first time during a photoshoot.
12/02/2022
Lighting Technique , Pre-Production

How to build this set from scratch!

Professionals need to own 18 lights if they want to have gratuitous silly fun!
11/26/2022
Lighting Technique

Why a 3 light kit won’t cut it!

male posing tips tutorial
11/14/2022
Lighting Technique

Posing Men: the head to toe guide to posing for photographers AND models

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POSING & MORE

In today's video I set out to critique five portraits and headshots. After pointing out the positives I share my advice on how the images could be improved. So basically, this video is full of portrait and lighting tips and tricks!
03/28/2022
Exclusive Training Videos , Lighting Technique , Posing

Member Exclusive: Portrait Photography & Lighting Photo Critique

readylightmendia vs. johngressmedia photo critique studio lighting
09/23/2021
Exclusive Training Videos , Fundamentals , Lighting Technique , Posing

ReadyLightMedia va. JohnGressMedia Photo Critique: Fashion & portrait photography tips

There are two ways photographers can grow and improve -- practice and critique. But the feedback we get online is often all positive and unqualified or destructive and also unqualified. So in today's video, James Quantz Jr. and I will go over 6 images, submitted by their makers, and give suggestions on how the photos could be improved.
05/29/2021
Lighting Technique , Posing

Photo critique with James Quantz Jr.

photo critique with gary hughes
03/27/2021
Lighting Technique , Posing

Photo Critique with Gary Hughes

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AFTER THE SHOOT

In today's video I share the 6 things every photographer needs in their lighting kit besides lights and modifiers.
11/07/2022
Fundamentals , Post-Production

The 4 secrets that every new photographer needs to know in order to become a successful professional

Infinite tools plugins skin retouch photoshop tutorial
07/23/2022
Post-Production

Beauty Retouching Tutorial With Infinite Skin & Infinite Retouch Photoshop Plugins

Why I switched from Drobo to Synology. Protecting our data is one of the most important things that we do as photographers, videographers and content creator. In addition, being able to access that video quickly while editing is paramount. The 10GB Ethernet equipped Synology 1821+ paired with my new Mac Studio gets it done!
06/05/2022
Post-Production

Review: The Synology 1821+ is the perfect partner for the Mac Studio

Step-by-step Black & White retouching using Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Neural Filters for Skin Smoothing. I also mask out the backgrounds and replace them.
11/06/2021
Exclusive Training Videos , Post-Production

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE: Lightroom and Photoshop B&W Tutorial

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