Specifications:

• 11 lessons
• 1 hour and 30 minutes

Review:

Tyler Mitchell is a history-making photographer as the first black photographer to shoot a cover for American Vogue. Was I familiar with Tyler Mitchell prior to watching his Masterclass? No. Since portrait photography is not my specialty, I do not typically look at portrait photographers for inspiration. That being said, during the series I was impressed with Tyler’s creativity.

Time and again, I kept viewing a photograph of his posted during the class with admiration. Why? Either due to the lighting, use of color, storytelling, composition, or some artistic detail. Many of his images look like a work of art.

Mitchell specializes in portrait photography with black community being nearest to his heart and style. He takes viewers through different processes: working with natural light, editing photographs, talking to models, finding your audience, staying true to yourself.

I have always enjoyed the ability to manipulate natural lighting indoors when photographing a subject. He gives ideas, with budget friendly options, to guide how lighting looks on a couple of different photo shoots. These tips would work on still life photography.

One video discusses editing and processing photographs. Figuring which images to keep or discard is not my forte. There are times when images I saved from three or five years ago I decide are no longer worth keeping. His processing is more minimal than expected, but it works.

Would I recommend Tyler Mitchell’s Masterclass?

Sure, especially if you are into portrait photography. Tyler is of a newer and younger age of photography, but he still gives candid and honest feedback, which is the best kind. Since he is younger, it would be interesting if he did another class in ten or twenty years.