Workshop
Light Mastery Series • Workshop 03: Stemware, Dark Field & Bright Field
Veterans Park Rec Center 55 Homestead Rd S Lehigh Acres, FL 33936
Details
This time, you're running the lights.
Workshop 03 is different.
In the first two sessions, Kevin demonstrated, you observed, then you shot. That's how you learn the physics. But at some point you have to build the setup yourself — make the decisions, see what goes wrong, fix it, and understand *why* the fix worked.
That point is now.
In Workshop 03 you will be the one placing the lights, positioning the flags, and dialing in the setup from scratch. Kevin will be in the room directing — calling out what to change and why — but his camera stays in the bag. You are the shooter. Every image made in this session will be yours.
What you're shooting — and why it's hard
The subject is crystal stemware: a wine glass with cut crystal detail at the base, shot on a black acrylic surface.
It sounds simple. It isn't.
Clear glass has no surface color of its own. It doesn't absorb light, it doesn't scatter it — it mirrors the environment around it. That means the image you make is almost entirely determined by what you put in that environment. Move a flag six inches and the glass looks completely different. Change the background from black to white and you have an entirely different photograph.
That's exactly what this workshop demonstrates. You will shoot the same glass in the same position with the same camera settings twice. The only variable you will change is what the glass sees behind it. The results will look like two completely different photographers shot two completely different setups — and you'll understand precisely why.
Dark field. Bright field.
These are the two fundamental approaches to lighting transparent subjects in product photography.
Dark field places a dark environment behind the center of the glass with controlled light wrapping around the edges. The glass goes nearly black. Its edges glow. The cut crystal base catches the edge light and throws it in every direction. The result is graphic, moody, and luxurious — the standard look for high-end spirits, glassware, and premium products.
Bright field places a lit white background behind the glass. The glass reads as dark lines and edges against a luminous white field. The form of the object comes through in a completely different way — cooler, cleaner, editorial.
Neither is better. Both are deliberate. By the end of this session you will know when to reach for each one, and how to build it.
How the session runs
You won't be watching a demo — you'll be building the setup. Kevin will introduce the first setup parameters, you'll execute the build, shoot it, and then the group will look at the results together. Then you change one variable. Shoot again. Look at what changed and why.
From there the session opens up: partial setups, creative variations, adding liquid to the glass, experimenting with what happens when you break the rules on purpose. You'll finish with a clear understanding of what dark field and bright field are, why they work, and how to replicate both without guessing.
What to bring
Your camera. You'll be shooting in manual mode. Any camera body works.
A 24–70mm or 85mm lens. Focal length is not the variable we're exploring here — bring something you know well and can work with comfortably.
A stemware glass. Wine glass, goblet, whatever you have at home. Crystal or cut glass is ideal if you own one — the facets catch light in a way that plain glass doesn't. Don't buy anything special for this.
A tripod. Strongly recommended. Locking your camera position lets you isolate the light as the only variable — which is exactly what this workshop is built around.
Charged battery and empty memory card. You'll shoot a lot.
Kevin is bringing all light sources, modifiers, flags, black acrylic surface, and grip equipment. You don't need any of that.
What you'll leave with
A working understanding of dark field and bright field lighting — not as rules to follow, but as logical outcomes of physics you can predict and control. The same principles that govern this glass govern every transparent or specular subject you'll ever shoot: bottles, perfume, jewelry, glassware, water.
This is also the direct lead-up to Workshop 04, where the group will tackle a matte black wine bottle in a fully directed shoot. What you learn here will make that session make sense before Kevin says a word.
Is this for me?
If you attended Workshop 01 or 02, yes — this is exactly where the series goes next.
If you're joining the series for the first time, you'll be fine. You don't need to have attended the earlier sessions. What you do need is comfort shooting in manual mode and the willingness to build something, make it look wrong, and figure out why.
About the Light Mastery Series
The Light Mastery Series is a free community workshop program that teaches photographers how light actually behaves — one subject at a time, one physics principle at a time. Each workshop uses a single subject to demonstrate specific, learnable concepts through hands-on shooting.
Workshop 01 — The Golf Ball. Directional light, position, distance, angle, diffusion, and fill. Available as a take-home brief.
Workshop 02 — A Glass of Water. Transparency, refraction, and specular reflection. Five physics principles. Completed April 2026.
Workshop 03 — Crystal Stemware. Dark field and bright field lighting. You build the setup. This session.
Workshop 04 — The Matte Black Bottle. Coming July 2026. Directed shoot — participants execute, Kevin calls the shots.
Light Mastery Series — Workshop 03
Insight Image Studio — insightimagestudio.com
Questions? kevin@insightimagestudio.com
For anyone who isn't a member of Veterans Park there is a $10.00 one-time fee for membership.