Sunset portraits with flash

[adamhiram]

These are some test shots I took for an upcoming engagement shoot. These were taken at the top of a tall hill in a local park, where the sunset is visible over the trees. The idea of mixing ambient with flash is simple enough, but factoring in location, direction, timing, and rapidly changing conditions was a new challenge for me.

I started by getting the ambient exposure, with the goal of using a shutter speed around 1/250s, and then set the flash power accordingly. This allowed me to adjust the ambient exposure without affecting the flash exposure of the subject by simply reducing my shutter speed as the sun set. I was able to get 2 more stops of ambient exposure before adjusting anything else, then 3 more stops by changing the aperture and ISO, which required adjusting flash power.

Nikon D500 with 50mm f/1.8
f/8, 1/200s, ISO 400
Subject lit with a speedlight in a 38" octobox camera left in first shot, camera right in second.


20190803-DSC_3703a by adamhiram, on Flickr


20190803-DSC_3720a by adamhiram, on Flickr

 

[Derrel]

Good balance of flash to natural light, especially on the second one

 

[smoke665]

Wow I'd delete the "Test shot part of your post, and call these GOOD. Love the lighting, clouds, and color! Great job of matching ambient and flash.

 

[zulu42]

Looks great. Nice job with the lighting. Here's hoping for a great sunset for the shoot!

 

[Jeff15]

Very nice shooting............

 

[Tropicalmemories]

Very nice for the subjects - atmospheric, natural looking, flash not too bright.

But for the engagement shoot the light may be a bit dark?

Personally I'd shoot a bit more before sunset, and add a gold reflector to get warm light as a fill, because the flash is very directional and you have a large shadow on the face. Perhaps add a large flash diffuser?

Just my thoughts anyway.

 

[adamhiram]

Good balance of flash to natural light, especially on the second one

Thank you! I agree, the lighting in the second shot looks more natural to me and less "dramatic", which is closer to what I was going for. This was from moving the light back a bit further for a broader wash, as well as less light hitting the subject.

Wow I'd delete the "Test shot part of your post, and call these GOOD. Love the lighting, clouds, and color! Great job of matching ambient and flash.

Thank you, you're too kind! I just gave him a bottle of bubbles to keep him occupied while I played with my settings and shot away for 45 minutes.

Looks great. Nice job with the lighting. Here's hoping for a great sunset for the shoot!

Thanks, me too!

Very nice shooting............

Thank you.

Very nice for the subjects - atmospheric, natural looking, flash not too bright. But for the engagement shoot the light may be a bit dark? Personally I'd shoot a bit more before sunset, and add a gold reflector to get warm light as a fill, because the flash is very directional and you have a large shadow on the face. Perhaps add a large flash diffuser?

Thank you for the feedback. A reflector is out of the question, as I will be on location and won't have an assistant. However I took some other test shots with the light a little more on-axis that helped with some of the deeper shadows. I think using a slightly brighter ambient exposure will also add some natural fill light, I'll have to play around with that. As for timing, the technique mentioned above should give me enough leeway to start about an hour before sunset and keep shooting until the light is gone, so hopefully I can capture some nice colors somewhere in there!

 

[DanOstergren]

They're good.

I think you could create a much more aesthetically pleasing environment by starting at least an hour earlier than you did though, allowing for more of that sunset golden hour light to enhance your subjects and the environments around them, rather than shooting at a time when there is barely enough ambient light to set a mood beyond what you are able to create with a speedlight.

 

[smoke665]

@adamhiram not to throw a wrench in your setup, but have you tried gelling your flash. How to Use CTO and CTB Gels to Change the Color of Your Background I use a technique every now and then, I learned from watching a wedding photographer up in the mountains of the Smokies. He used a bare stroblight high on a stand with gels to pull beautiful color from the ambient light.

 

[adamhiram]

They're good.

I think you could create a much more aesthetically pleasing environment by starting at least an hour earlier than you did though, allowing for more of that sunset golden hour light to enhance your subjects and the environments around them, rather than shooting at a time when there is barely enough ambient light to set a mood beyond what you are able to create with a speedlight.

Thanks, Dan, really appreciate the feedback. A couple questions...

1. If I start earlier for more golden hour light on the subject, is that more of a warm fill light, or does the ambient factor into the main light on the subjects as well? My only concern would be having to adjust both the main light (strobe power) and ambient (shutter speed) as the sun sets, adding an extra variable. It would be nice to have more natural fill though.
2. How would you expose the sky, starting an hour earlier? Let it blow out a bit to get more ambient on the subject, or keep it underexposed to capture sky detail?
3. Not really related to this, but you do some amazing work with just natural light and reflectors. Do you typically have an assistant to hold your reflectors, or do you just prop it up against something and fly solo? A common dilemma I have with natural light photos is whether to use the sun as the main light but not have much background separation, or get a beautifully backlit photo with not enough light on the subjects. I know simple on-camera fill flash could remedy this, but including a reflector would often resolve this issue if I had a good way to hold and position it without an assistant.

 

[adamhiram]

@adamhiram not to throw a wrench in your setup, but have you tried gelling your flash. How to Use CTO and CTB Gels to Change the Color of Your Background I use a technique every now and then, I learned from watching a wedding photographer up in the mountains of the Smokies. He used a bare stroblight high on a stand with gels to pull beautiful color from the ambient light.

Thanks for the link, I think I watched this exact video at one point. I would definitely like to play around with CTO/CTB gels to see what kind of results I can get - as you can imagine, my time was a bit limited trying to keep a 4 year old occupied while I experimented.

I left the sky as-is in the shots above, but it was easy enough to simulate this in post using a temp/tint adjustment layer on just the sky/background. In the first shot I had a convenient selection boundary with the wooden railing, and the engagement shoot will actually be on an urban rooftop with a railing to make selection pretty simple.

My other concern would be losing some light when I'm already firing my speedlight at 1/4 to 1/2 power. A 1/2 CTB or CTO gel eats 1/2 stop of light, which will start to noticeably affect recycle time.

 

[smoke665]

My other concern would be losing some light when I'm already firing my speedlight at 1/4 to 1/2 power. A 1/2 CTB or CTO gel eats 1/2 stop of light, which will start to noticeably affect recycle time.

Such is the downside of a speedlight. I always have a fresh large package of batteries on hand. If you're doing this on a rooftop is it possible there is an electrical outlet within range of an extension cord? I also have an inverter hardwired in my truck, and a 3500 watt inverter/generator when I need remote power.

 

[adamhiram]

Such is the downside of a speedlight. I always have a fresh large package of batteries on hand. If you're doing this on a rooftop is it possible there is an electrical outlet within range of an extension cord?

There are definitely some trade-offs with speedlights, but the convenience factor is pretty nice, especially when traveling. I don't want to rely on finding electrical outlets on a roof deck, but I have plenty of extra batteries. This also reminded me - I'll only be a few blocks from Adorama and they rent lighting gear! I don't think I want to start fumbling with unfamiliar equipment this time around, but I'll definitely have to keep this in mind for future shoots.

 

[smoke665]

You may already know this, but not all batteries are equal. Interesting article BEST BATTERIES FOR YOUR SPEEDLIGHTS: A SHOWDOWN

Also many speedlight can operate with an external power pack. The ones I've seen aren't that expensive.

 

[adamhiram]

not all batteries are equal. Interesting article BEST BATTERIES FOR YOUR SPEEDLIGHTS: A SHOWDOWN

One thing the article briefly mentions but does not elaborate on is longevity - how many times can they be charged. For example, the standard Eneloop batteries can be charged 2100 times, while the higher capacity ones are only good for 500 charges. The standard ones have worked well for me, and even with flashes fired at full power, are usually enough for a whole session (141 according to the article). I typically try to keep flash power at 1/4 or less for faster cycle time, and hundreds of flashes on a single charge, even if it means bumping my ISO up to 400.


20180327-DSC_6778a by adamhiram, on Flickr