The Lighting Artist · Lighting and compositing for CG animation

James Veale

Ganges, Occitanie, France

Profile

I'm a professional photographer with more than ten years of experience in lighting, composition and image direction, now moving into 3D lighting for stylised character animation (references: Pixar, DreamWorks, The Wild Robot). I've trained myself intensively in Blender: motivated lighting, light groups and AOVs, shading and compositing. I'm studying at Animum to build solid foundations in 3D production and lighting, to work as a lighting artist in narrative animation.

Experience

2024 – nowGanges, France

Freelance photographer

Portrait, maternity and lifestyle photography for private clients: lighting, direction and post-production. Alongside it, self-taught 3D lighting in Blender: motivated light, gobos, light groups and AOVs, compositing.

2018 – 2023Montpellier, France

English and communication instructor

Taught English and professional communication at EPF Engineering School and MBS School of Business. Supervised student team projects on brand identity and colour theory.

2012 – 2018Auckland, New Zealand

Photographer and lighting assistant

James C Veale Photography. Lighting assistant and digital operator on commercial and portrait shoots, controlling exposure, colour and focus on set.

Education

2026 – nowAnimum, online

Lighting Artist course

Studying lighting and compositing for animation in Maya and Nuke.

2005 – 2009Plymouth, UK

BSc (Hons) Digital Art and Technology

University of Plymouth. Graduated with a 2:1.

3D training and self-study (2026 – now)

Lighting in Blender (Cycles): natural, practical and dramatic light (Chris Brejon's framework, author of CG Cinematography); motivated lighting, gobos, dappled light and projected light.
Light groups and AOVs for multi-layer EXR compositing.
Shading: shader mixing, masks with colour ramps, emission shaders, texturing (Blender Guru).
Basic rigging and animation: FK/IK, Auto Rig Pro, retargeting with Mixamo, NLA editor adjustments.
Compositing in Blender.
Basic sculpting.

3D projects

“Rain” (Blender Studio character) composited onto my own photograph of a village, using a shadow catcher and compositing in Blender.
“Robot” lighting series: several looks using light groups, practical and dramatic lights, HDRI and motivated lighting.
Night scene with volumetric fog and a full key / fill / bounce / negative fill set-up.

Skills

Maya and Nuke (studying at Animum)
Blender (Cycles): advanced in lighting
DaVinci Resolve
Adobe Photoshop
Colour theory and photographic composition

Languages

English: native
French: fluent (living in France)
Spanish: B2