Strobist Sunset Shoot

[Destin]

One thing that I've been meaning to do for some time now is to work on using strobist techniques to shoot portraits in front of a sunset. I found a suitable location the other day and decided to do some photos with a friend of mine who is a dancer.

This was mostly for the learning experience as far as blending of flash and ambient goes; I understand that some of the poses are awkward, etc... was moving fast with the changing light and just trying to keep the flash/ambient balance correct.

Had a ton of fun, and can't wait to work on this technique some more. Feedback would be awesome, specifically on the lighting... I'm going to be doing another shoot in the same location with a different model in a few days, so I'll implement feedback at that time!

 

[tirediron]

Not sure if it's WB, reflection or what, but her forehead seems very red.

 

[Destin]

Not sure if it's WB, reflection or what, but her forehead seems very red.

Her forehead is very red in real life.

 

[Christie Photo]

This feels to me like the background took precedent over the subject. When looking at the model alone, I find the lighting ratio to be extreme. Edge shadow is too hard.

Since the color temperature of the main (strobe) is much cooler than the ambient, she doesn't come off as warm. Did you try to balance for her skin and let the background fall wherever it will?

Perhaps most important, the image confuses the mind's eye in that the obvious source of light is the setting sun, but the direction of the lighting on her is coming from somewhere else. This bothers me most in the last two, looking a bit like on-camera flash.

I think you're on to something here.

Possibly a larger, softer strobe source is the answer. Working closer in may help with that.

Good luck!

-Pete

 

[Destin]

This feels to me like the background took precedent over the subject. When looking at the model alone, I find the lighting ratio to be extreme. Edge shadow is too hard.

Since the color temperature of the main (strobe) is much cooler than the ambient, she doesn't come off as warm. Did you try to balance for her skin and let the background fall wherever it will?

Perhaps most important, the image confuses the mind's eye in that the obvious source of light is the setting sun, but the direction of the lighting on her is coming from somewhere else. This bothers me most in the last two, looking a bit like on-camera flash.

I think you're on to something here.

Possibly a larger, softer strobe source is the answer. Working closer in may help with that.

Good luck!

-Pete

Thanks! I really need to get a boom stand or an assistant to hold my light... I wanted to fly the octabox directly over her about 3 feet above her head, but just can't get that close with a traditional light stand by myself.

These were shot with a 40ish inch octabox, it just needs to be in closer to get softer light.

 

[smoke665]

Gotta love a good challenge, balancing artificial lighting with rapidly changing ambient. I had a similar problem with light over the weekend, the color of the light was so overpowering that it was hard getting the WB right. As others suggested you might have to adjust it so your model looks right. I know some might call it cheating but this is one of those shots that could also be done as a composite. Get the sunset perfect, then shoot the model in front of a green screen. For me I think the first one was pretty good, the best of the series.

 

[ronlane]

The fill light seems to be focused more on the body (midsection and legs) than on her face. That may be your intent but for a portrait, I think I would prefer that the face be the brightest part of the image to draw someone in to that.