Sessions with Joey L: DVD Review

Joey L is a commercial photographer out of New York that has a very compelling style and almost masterful control over the light that he works with.  From amazing travel photography in Abysinnia, to shooting the Jonas Brothers in a Jet hangar, Joey L has become one of the most sought after commercial photographers out there. 
Like anyone out there going out there and creating their own style as of late – you’d pretty much guarantee that the photo community would be running after him with torches and pitchforks demanding that he show them the ropes.  Watching the internets. Ive seen many people ask about the signature look.. leading me to believe “would he just open up and -blah- … put it out there, or horde it”

Joey L’s turned out to be not only a person who is more than willing to share the secrets to his success.. but a great teacher at that.  I almost hate mentioning the fact that he’s all of 19 years old. To be able to become so versed in the commercial shooting industry and so open to sharing that should be cause to give credit to.  Joey delivers with “Sessions with Joey L”.

The disc is divided into a series of sections: Lighting theory, photo shoots, business, travel and Photoshop. Each of the sections has Joey going over every detail of how he does things.  From talking about the specific gear that he uses and how the gear generally works to walking the user through his thinking process as he goes over several photo shoots.  You get the feeling of standing beside Joey as he talks about his gear selection, his posing of the models, the light that he uses, and how he navigates the photo shoot.  The Travel sections go over some of his thought on the logistics of traveling to a foreign country and the ‘why’ behind his overseas projects.

The Business side of things walks through the process he goes through when he competes for a job to the use of his portfolio.  He also gives tips and tricks to make sure the portfolio is as impactful as it can be.
In his Photoshop section he goes over techniques like moving skies from one image into another.  Unlike his last video, Joey approaches a more non destructive approach, using some blending modes and layer masks for composting- definitely versed in Photoshop CS4.  One of the things that impressed me on the retouching portion was how comfortable he seems now walking you through his Photoshop process.  Not that it was too much of an issue in his previous video, but it definitely shows that his presence is matured quite a bit.

Sessions With Joey L – Tutorial Preview from Joey L on Vimeo.

The quality of the video is great.  The sound of the video is a ‘warts and all’ export.  There is no professional audio quality here – but I think that it adds to the genuine-ness of the production.  It feels like you’re sitting next to him when working and makes the production a feel a lot more personal.

The biggest complaint that I could see on this DVD is the price.  At $299.00 there may be some that would believe it to be a little much.  To this, I have to disagree.  This DVD is probably one of the more candid approaches from a very sought after photographer.  The DVD is part software workshop, part location workshop, part gear primer.. all of these being a lot more expensive in an actual workshop.  At this price, you get to learn at your pace, in the comfort of your own home.  You get sound techniques in many aspects of photography and concrete examples to follow – not to mention a Stock sky library to use.

Another small disclaimer would be that he does use some language that you may not find in G rated videos.  A very small amount.. and you’d have to really be listening to catch it.. not a problem at all.

The Long and the Short:  Definitely worth the purchase to get yourself in the mind in one of the most sought after photographers.  This is one Session that I am going to find myself watching over and over taking copious notes.