There are a few flash catchlights in some of the shots. By far the most predominant technique that photographer is using is one of the EASIEST WAYS EVER to shoot with digital...placing subjects in either open shade, or deep shade, and shooting with the subject's eyes angled toward large areas of bright sky. Look at the shots with a kind of "butterfly" catchlight, where the photographer's reflection creates a dark dividing line between the bright areas--that result when she shoots close to the subject....when she backs off with a telephoto lens, the sky forms a larger, single catchlight that stretches most of the way across the top of the eyeball.
In smaller towns and cities where there are lots of 2,3,and 4-story old buildings, this type of "alleyway photography" is pretty easy to pull off...just find an alleyway or sidewalk where the subject can be placed in shade, and have bright sky behind you, the photographer's camera position!!! The bonus is that the shade is VERY,very easy to work with...the images are lighted with fairly soft "skylight"...not "SUN-light", but light from the sky. In that type of flat, even, shadowless lighting, bad skin is minimized, the subject's eyes will be OPEN wide and not squinty, exposures are easy to figure out, and the background areas will be darkish if they are in the shade, and blown-out, bright, and "airy" if they are in SUN-light. This type of soft, even light lends itself well to extreme manipulation in post work,without worrying about losing highlights. Set your WB pretty warm, like 7,500 or so.
This is an old, well-respected way of utilizing natural light, by shooting in shaded areas, and then, using the way the natural light hits the background to create nice photos. One can also work right near the "edge" of the light, for a bit more modeling of subject features. My description of this might sound to some people like I am putting this method down, but that's not the case. I am just stating how this type of lighting is done. Monte Zucker's tutorials describe this approach in hiuge depth and detail. A "Shaded area" can also be something as small as a restaurant or hotel's canvas awning, or a porch overhang, or a large doorway.
Subject in shade, eyes facing large open expanse of sky. Shoot. Process. Beautiful.
