Lighting The Brand Session

Guarantee gorgeous results,
no matter the forecast or location

Let's do this thing!

Just launched:

You walk room to room of the rental space, the sweat collecting on your upper lip: what happened to all that natural light you were counting on??

You’d patted yourself on the back for packing a single speedlight “just in case,” but now you’re realizing that there’s no WAY that’s going to do the job.

At least, not if you want to achieve that window light look.

And you also know there’s only *so* many compromises you can make in-camera to force the less-than-amazing natural light to work.

Plus, the editing headache this flat light is going to be in LightRoom…

Once again, you arrive on set for a brand session to find that the light IRL looks nothing like it did in those bright & airy listing photos.

Listing photos showed this

You’re already dreading the edits, and you haven’t even fired the shutter.

But off-camera flash freaks you out. There are so many variables (gear? settings? where am I supposed to put my light stand?)

…and even WITH all that trouble, you can never seem to get OCF to look *quite* the way you want.

So even though you know you probably *should* break out your flash, you once again resort to jacking up your ISO (hello, grain city), dragging your shutter (motion blur, anyone?), and throwing your aperture wiiide open (buh-bye, background detail!).

All the while, kicking yourself for not having more command over your own gear.

The view IRL

But can you imagine finally being able to step on set and handle ANY lighting situation thrown at you?

Even when skies are gray, and natural light is scarce?

The view IRL

What if you could create ideal light quickly, at any brand session in ANY circumstance, no matter the Accuweather forecast?

You could finally stop suffering through the locations with bad light, and start creating work you're proud to deliver + show your audience (instead of burying them + hoping no one tags you on social).

You know a LOT more about light that you think.

What if those lights you've been toting around (but avoided actually using) became your insurance policy against bad weather and misleading listing photos?

☀️ You know how to use natural light- you've got that on lock.

...so WHY does does OCF send you running for the hills?

Because you haven't realized:

You just need to translate your natural light expertise
➡️ ➡️ into artificial light proficiency.

Annual avg of sunny days where I live: 203.

Which means there’s a 44% chance of cloud cover at any given shoot… and if I’m counting on the sky to be my only source of light at a shoot, I’ve got roughly a 1-in-2 chance of getting lucky.

Those aren’t the kind of odds I’m willing to bet on when my client’s investment is footing the bill.

That's only 56% of the year.

The fear of flash is SO. COMMON.
I wanted to do *something* to make it easier for
brand photographers to grasp & apply OCF.

Because having the ability to create you own light means you can:

*Off-camera lighting has entered the chat*

Walk into every brand shoot confident you can deliver well-lit results you’re proud of, even when the forecast is bleak ⛈️

Create natural-feeling light even on the rainiest day, so that your OCF photos can live in harmony 😌 alongside the rest of your portfolio

Work in any corner of almost any room on set- you’re done being at the mercy of window light alone. 🙅🏻‍♀️

Stop stressing about light so you can focus your creative energy on set where it’ll make the biggest difference- storytelling imagery, creative composition, and helping your client look and feel their best. 🎨

(The same equipment I used to avoid like the plague!)

I knew that if I wanted to GUARANTEE results, I needed to be capable of working in ANY situation, not just the ideal ones.

And putting off-camera flash to work was the answer.

These days? I can't *imagine* leaving for a brand session without my lighting gear.

The only step-by-step course for using flash at brand shoots, so you can guarantee gorgeous results no matter the forecast or location

Enter...

I’ll have you leaving your fear of flash in the rearview mirror where it belongs.

You don’t leave *any* other aspect of your job to chance, do you?

No? Then it’s time to take control of your light, too.

Lighting the Brand Session is the comprehensive roadmap that teaches natural-light-loving photographers how to use flash to achieve consistent results from one brand shoot to the next.

Video trainings & demos on lighting theory to help you diagnose ANY lighting situation you find yourself in (so you can learn to work off-script!)

A comprehensive breakdown of one- and two-light setups and when to employ them, so you can stop fumbling and nail your light from the beginning

Softboxes & umbrellas explained, so you know when & why to choose one vs. other

Homework assignments along the way to build your lighting muscle memory, so come shoot day, you know exactly what to do

You'll walk away with:

I'm in! Show me how to sign up!

Here’s what you’ll find inside…

Kicking things off with The 7 Cardinal Rules of Light, *essential* for creating predictable, desirable light in the future.

The 6 Types of Light You’ll Meet on Set, so that next time the light sucks, you know *why.* Even better, you’ll know how to fix it!

The Golden Rule for dialing in your flash settings- remember this, and you’ll never get flustered on set again

The *key* difference between lighting for branding vs. portraits or weddings (bc no- you can’t just use your reception lighting setup!)

Lighting will either make or break your photographs, and that applies to ALL of us (not just the gearheads and studio photographers). Employ it with more purpose, and it'll change EVERY aspect of your work.

You already know a LOT more than you think you do! So we’re starting off with the universal laws of light behavior (leaving the technical jargon to photo forums)

Module 1 //

Let’s Talk Lighting Theory

Speedlights vs. strobes- lighting gear is an investment, so let’s break down which one’s right for you

Reflectors and scrims explained, so that you can make subtle adjustments on set (without breaking the bank)

Modifiers 101 walks you through softboxes, umbrellas & octaboxes, so you choose equipment to support the look you’re after

BONUS: the 4 basic pieces of lighting gear that *every* photographer needs to have

You don’t have to sacrifice your kid’s college fund to purchase lighting equipment- you just need to know WHAT to buy, and why you’re buying it.

Search YouTube for “what lighting equipment do I need?” and it’s no wonder you're overwhelmed. But you can get by with relatively little on set! You'll get my take on what’s *actually* essential on set.

Module 2 //

Lighting Gear Basics

The three most common one-light systems (with diagrams AND demos) so you can light your shot

My go-to formula for blending flash WITH the natural light on set, with one *stupid simple tweak* that will make you fall in love with your strobe

The 5-point strategy for making OCF feel like window light. Super intuitive, and more importantly? Easy to remember on set.

Bottom line: flash doesn’t need to feel flash-y. I’ll show you how to use artificial light to work alongside your existing portfolio, instead of being at odds with it.

I remember being scared 💩-less the first time I used OCF, but we’re gonna pull a Geico and make this so easy, a caveman could do it. (And for all the natural light photogs worried about their work feeling “too studio?” Rest easy- I’ve got you!)

Module 3 //

One-Light Setups

The AG Low-And-Slow Formula for getting your lights set up and tested QUICKLY, so you’re not stressing about eating up excessive time on a shoot day

A live demo of three completely different brand vibes using the same two lights

The On-Set Troubleshooting Checklist to keep in your back pocket, for those times when it feels like you’re not *quite* nailing it

You can do this. I promise. You don't have to be a lighting wunderkind or hold a BFA to understand on-location lighting.

Don’t freak out! If you can shoot with one light, you can shoot with two- it just requires a few extra minutes to dial in your settings. I promise not to throw you into the deep end- we’ll ease into two lights, giving you even more flexibility on shoot days when the natural light isn’t in your favor

Module 4 //

Two-Light Setups

“I feel 100% more confident arriving on set. Even when the light isn't what I expected it to be, I know have the tools and knowledge to start troubleshooting.

Abby takes a very complex subject, lighting, and makes it simple and applicable. She takes the fear out of flash and makes it as simple as it was to learn to shoot in manual mode with my camera.

- Dennah Renee Photography

Starting with your very next shoot, you’ll be waving buh-bye to the on-set panic over light, because you, my friend? You’re what we call Lighting Literate. You can walk on set confident: no matter the forecast (or how misleading those studio listing photos might have been), you know you’ve got it covered.

Download the templates and worksheets, and walk through the content with me weekly over the next month, implementing as you go. I’ll be there cheering you on in our exclusive community for our LBS students.

Tap the “Let’s Do This Thing!” button, pick your payment method, and enter your deets. You’ll get instant access to the first Module!

Let's Do This Thing!

Here's the process

How does it work?

Want a peek inside?

I'm in, let's go!

Walk into every session confident that no matter the forecast (or how misleading those studio listing photos may have been), you’re in control of the light.

A shopping list of Lighting Kits for Every Budget, so you can stop stressing over what to buy and start laughing in the face of challenging lighting scenarios. .

My personal guide to traveling with light gear—so you can hit the road without worrying whether your equipment is safe

How to Light Flat Lays- a step-by-step tutorial for shooting top-down scenes with OCF for more consistent results (and my favorite hacks for styling scenes for maximum usage!)

Oooh, did someone say BONUSES?

"Your tips of positioning your lights in the same direction as the ambient light, and feathering were GAME changers. The way you broke things down into steps is SUPER helpful. It provides a formula to start with, and steps to follow to completion. And as a photographer, if I feel like I can just work through the steps, it gives me confidence to jump in and do it!" - Caroline Hurdt

"I feel much more confident placing my lights. And omg feathering. I’ve been using flash for years. How was this this first time I felt like I truly understood that concept. I love how you explain things!" - Amber Langerud

"I have always kind of shied away from artificial lighting. I love how Abby shows that it takes time to figure it out and that is OKAY- I feel like so many other "experts" out there don't show that side of it, almost like "why can't you figure this out yet". Abby seems like the patient mentor who comes alongside you and encourages you." - Lisa Lord

What our students are saying!

Sure! And when the light on set sucks you could keep:

Could you stick with natural light alone?

But then… you know editing these is going to be a bear. And the edits will take 3x as long... for a final product still you don't love.

You DO have your break-glass-in-case-of-emergency speedlight kit (you know, the same set-up you use for wedding receptions)... but there’s a reason you try your hardest not to open that bag: the results are “meh” and those photos will NEVER make in into your portfolio or social feeds.

And for all that time you’ve spent scrubbing the internet for “how to make flash feel like natural light,” you’re STILL just as intimidated by OCF as before. The thousands of hours of videos, the endless gear options, and the foreign jargon … all of it makes you want to shut your laptop and take a nap.

You just need someone to show you how to use light in a way that feels natural, simple, and easy-to-remember on set.

Jacking that ISO til it’s higher than the cost of Disney park tickets
Slowing your shutter speed to a slower-than-a-sea-turtle crawl
Throwing open that aperture until you’ve blurred out all discernible background detail

Jack that ISO til it’s higher than the cost of Disney park tickets

Slow your shutter speed to a slower-than-a-sea-turtle crawl

Throw open that aperture until you’ve blurred out all discernible background detail

All four modules of LBS ($1800)
Homework assignments with every module ($97)
Case studies from actual client shoots ($197)
The on-set troubleshooting checklist ($97)
Access to the exclusive Facebook community for students ($297)
Exclusive discount code for softboxes & modifiers

Teach me how to use light without fear! →

Payment plans available

$2,679 value

BONUS: Lighting Kits for Every Budget ($47)
BONUS: Lighting for Flat Lays ($97)
BONUS: Traveling with Lighting Gear ($47)

Here's what's included:

Plus these exclusive bonuses

All for the price of $597

“There's a level of confidence that stems from knowing you can tackle any tough situation you find yourself in and create consistent, great work for you clients just as you envisioned. Abby has a way of teaching that doesn't dumb down the complex stuff, but makes it simple to comprehend and turn around and put into practice for yourself. Abby pours her heart and genius into whatever she sets her hands to." - Rachael Curtis

“Abby is one of the most clear & detailed teachers I have ever met. No stone goes unturned. That is so refreshing to me. She certainly over delivers.” - Mary Menger

“I have a book on lighting but this was so much easier to follow, and watching you demonstrate your techniques was incredibly helpful. I learned so much more from you. " - Amber Denny

Don't take my word- here's theirs 👇🏼

My number #1 priority here is empowering photographers. And that means publishing the HIGHEST quality of education possible. If within 15 days you’ve made your way through the material and don’t think it was worth the investment, just answer a few quick questions for me and we’ll buy it back!

Click here to read the full terms and conditions.

Try my 15-Day Love It or Leave It Policy

A photographer since 2009, I made the jump from weddings to branding a few years ago… and with clients like Katelyn James, Ashlyn Carter, and KT Merry, it’s one pinch me! moment after another.

After hearing from the more than 600 students in my course Brand Photography Academy, I saw that lighting is a *huge* source of anxiety for a lot of photographers.

And I probably don’t need to tell you how toxic that insecurity can be to creatives.

→ I believe that you are CAPABLE of learning to make light work for you, no matter how intimidated you might feel at the moment.

I was the poster child for “afraid of OCF.”

And yet… look where we are now 👇🏼

Hello! Is it me you’re looking for?

I’m Abby Grace- brand photographer, educator, and speaker, at your service

As Heard On/At

Showit: United Conference

Brands that
Book Podcast

Creative @
Heart Conference

and more...

Goal Digger
Podcast

You’re tired of feeling flustered by your flash- you know how to use your camera but OCF makes you feel like a failure bc you can’t *quite* nail the look on set that you have in your mind’s eye. Maybe if you’d just watched a few more YouTube videos before your shoot…

You love your job, but depending on Mother Nature to provide clear skies on the day of a session is a roller coaster you’d like to get off of, please. You’re ready for more consistency from one session to the next.

Leaving sessions disappointed in yourself is the worst- you know what you *could* have done if you had more time & know-how, and now you’ve got the post-shoot regrets. And those are the pits.

You’re ready to feel confident about EVERY gallery you deliver, not just the ones where the stars aligned + the sun was streaming through the windows.

Listen, I believe that FLUFF is only good in marshmallow form. Here’s how to know if this course is right for you:

I’m one of those people who’ll tell it to you straight
if I don’t think you need what I’m selling.

If you’re a brand photographer who’s already rocking every shoot no matter what the light on set looks like when you arrive, who never breaks a sweat when skies are gray because you’re confident you can create your own light… my friend? You probably don’t need this course!

I kinda have a history of overdelivering ...

feedback from brand photography academy students

I kinda have a history of overdelivering ...

feedback from brand photography academy students

A. Shoot us an email at [email protected] we’d love to help! Sitting on a fence is uncomfortable no matter how you slice it- let’s get you situated on one side or the other.

Q. I have more questions, how can I get in touch?

A few FAQs for you, because you and I?
We’re both the type to ask questions!

A. We’ve made the lessons as easy to consume as possible, because I know how pressed you are for time. With short, easy-to-sift-through lessons, transcripts, and audio files, we’re making it super simple to get in, learn, and refer back to those lessons you might need to watch again. Taking it at one module per week, you’ll be done in one month.

Q. I don’t think I have time for this??

A. Yep! You can enroll for one payment of $597, or six payments of $107!

Here's how I approach this kind of decision- how long do I think it'll take to make my investment back? We've had countless students go through BPA, raise their rates, and book their highest collection yet. If you go out and shoot your BEST brand session next week, how much could you raise your own rates?

Q: Yikes, I just don’t think I can spend that right now! Is there a payment plan??

You sure can!

Q. Can I sign up anytime?

A. No, but I do promise to teach you the fundamentals and nuances of how to use your flash. You’ll need to consult your manual for questions specific to your brand of gear, but everything we learn inside LBS is applicable regardless of the equipment you’re using.

Q. Will you teach me how to use my camera?

A. Nope. I shoot 80-90% of my work on-location, which means bringing my gear with me (instead of arriving into a perfectly lit studio with $$$ lights set up and ready to go). I’ll be showing you how to select gear for any situation to make a set work for you, whether you’re in a basement, a co-working space, or a well-lit home office.

Q. Is this course for studio photographers, then?

A: I got you. We’ll be walking through the most basic theory of lighting FIRST, because without light, you don’t have photography. We’ll build on that theory to help you grasp how what you already know about natural light extends to OCF, making the jump into artificial lighting more intuitive and less scary!

Q: I’ve been shooting branding photos for a while now… is this going to be too “elementary” for me?

Quit stressing about bad light, once and for all.
Mother Nature isn’t the lighting expert- YOU are.

Join me inside Lighting the Brand Session so I can help you:

Walk into every brand shoot with the confidence that you can deliver well-lit results you’re proud of, even when the forecast is bleak

Finally make OCF feel like natural light so that your flash photos can live in harmony alongside the rest of your portfolio

Flex your lighting skills to work in any corner of almost any room on set- you’re done being at the mercy of window light alone.

Master your lighting so you can focus your creative energy on set where it’ll make the biggest difference- storytelling imagery, creative composition, and helping your client look and feel their best.

Your days of crossing your fingers &
unreliable light sources are over- it’s time to level up.

And yup, you COULD hack together a lighting strategy with help from YouTube, scrubbing through the 156 million hours of videos already on the platform, doing your best to keep up with endless playlists and outros of “don’t forget to watch this other video to fully understand what I just spent the last 10 minutes talking about!”

If you just had a straightforward roadmap that leads straight from “intimidated” to “confident & capable,” you *know* you'd master this. 💪🏼

I’d love to help you jump the line from “eh…good enough” (but is it?) to GREAT light, so that you can walk into every shoot 100% confident you can handle whatever light you end up with (even when skies are gray and window light is barely usable!).

Your days of crossing your fingers and unreliable light sources are over-
it’s time to level up.

All four modules of LBS ($1800)
Homework assignments with every module ($97)
Case studies from actual client shoots ($197)
The on-set troubleshooting checklist ($97)
Access to the exclusive Facebook community for students ($297)
Exclusive discount code for MagMod lighting gear