Adding Off-Camera Flash to your Outdoor
Portraits - Doug Box
A nice place to photograph, a nice background, but the light is flat.
It’s coming in from
everywhere. Notice the dark eyes and lack of direction. Not a bad image,
but it could be much better.
Sometimes do your outdoor portraits lack
“snap”? You have found the perfect place to pose your subject and the
perfect background, but the lighting is flat or sometimes good light is
non-existent. So what do you do?
Look at the difference in the lighting on the face. Look at the
difference in the skin tones. A much more professional and sellable
image.
The solution is to add flash, off camera. I
call it “Ambient Fill Lighting”. The ambient light functions as the Fill
Light. The offcamera flash functions as the Main Light. This will add
direction to the lighting.
Another advantage of adding flash, is that
it cleans up the colour of the skin tones. One of the challenges of
digital photography is colour management. If your light source isn’t
good, clean light, like from the open sky, then the skin tones can take
on the colour of the light. So if the light is bouncing off the grass or
leaves, the light will have a green tint. When you try to correct the
colour of the skin, the overall image will take on unusual tones
My theory is, “Don’t fix it in Photoshop,
get it right when you make the exposure!” The less work that I have to
do in Photoshop, the better I like it! When I signed on to be a
photographer, I didn’t envision myself sitting behind the computer for
several hours a day. I make my money taking photographs, marketing and
selling.
Here is the set-up, a small portable flash,
a light modifier, a radio slave, light stand, a light meter, a camera
and a camera bag to keep the whole thing from blowing over. An umbrella
will work unless there is wind. Even a little bit of wind will blow it
over and damage the light. Another problem with umbrellas is lens flare.
My current set-up uses a 22” Larson soff box, a Pocket Wizard radio
slave unit and a Sekonic L-558 meter with pocket wizard transmitter
built in. I use two different flash units. A Sunpack 383 when I need a
light weight flash unit and I use a Lumedyne if I need more flash power
or if I am using it around the studio and weight is not a problem. The
soff box is much sturdier and is more aerodynamically designed. I use
tent stakes to hold down the light stand. I am working with Larson to
develop a location lighting kit – for more information go to www.
simplyselling.com.
Here is the procedure:
Step 1. Meter the ambient for example 1/60 @
f5.6
Step 2. Change the meter to flash mode. Use the shutter speed obtained
in the ambient reading. In this example 1/60
Step 3. Turn on the flash and read the two together. Your goal is 1/2
stop more than the ambient alone. In this example you want the combined
reading to be 1/60 @ f 6.3 (or half way between f5.6 and f 8)
Without flash. Flat, unattractive light.
With flash.
Notice the position of the catch lights in
the eyes. They are in the 2 o’clock position.
If your combined reading is higher than 1/2 stop more than the ambient
reading, turn the flash down or move it back. If it is less than 1/2
stop more, turn it up or move it closer.
What are the pitfalls or problems when using this technique? First, you
have no modelling light, so you have to know where to put the light,
visually. The secret is to first place your camera where you want it to
be when you capture the image. Then, have the subject turn their face
where you want it for the image. (Are you photographing a full face
view, 2.3 view or profile view of the face?)
Then, you will place the light for the view of the face you want to
photograph. This is really not as hard as it sounds. If you want to
short light a 2/3’s view of the face and you want the catch light in the
2 o’clock position, there is only one place for the light. A 45 degree
angle from the nose.
The other problem or situation to watch out for is the size of the light
source. As you know, the smaller the light source the harder the edge of
the shadow; the larger or closer the light source the softer the light
and shadow edge. I start with the soff box just out of the view of the
camera. That will keep the shadow edge as soft as possible. That is why
I try not to use the flash with a modifer to soften the light. Alone the
plain flash can be too harsh. The soft box softens the light and makes
it more pleasing.
For more information about Doug Box, especially his business, marketing,
sales and promotion information, visit his web site,
www.simplyselling.com
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