Off-Camera Flash & Natural Light

[natek313]

Ok, so I did a shoot on Sunday with a new model, and this is one of the shots:



EXIF Info
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XS
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM
Shutter speed: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 400

Flash was off-camera to camera left. I used my Canon 430EX II through a 45" white umbrella. A reflector was used to the immediate camera right of the model.

My biggest question is on the lighting. I don't have a ton of experience using off-camera flash along with natural light. So, any comments and criticism on that in particular would be appreciated.

[miyukisarah]

The lighting looks good to me. I would desaturate the red in the back though my eye keeps going to it.

[Matthew_Scullion]

I think you've done a great job balancing it. I don't think you neccersarily needed a reflector on the right as you should be able to use the ambinet to get the right level of shadow detail when mixing ambient with flash.... and you've got quite a strong shadow across the nose. This could be the angle of the flash (was it almost 90 degress to model?) and/or power. May have been look you were going for though.

Exposure set for ambient 1-2 stops below correct exposure then flash set at 45 degress to model and correctly exposing the right hand side of her face is how I would do it.

Great shot mate. Keep up the off camera flash.

[CaptainNH]

It's a whole new, far improved, world as soon as you get your flash off-camera isn't it?

A good shot of a nicely posed model.

I think you've done a good job with balancing the flash with the ambient, the only issue is the harshness of the shadow on the model's left cheek and on her neck. I would have expected the shadows to be a fair bit softer from a 43" brolly.

The key to getting soft light from your umbrella is to get it as close as you can to the model.

Large light sources, up close to your model is the key. Have one of your well-paid assistants (), move the light stand in until it just appears in your shot, then back it off a couple of inches.

[zona5101]

Nice work Nate! Beautiful model. Might have gelled the flash to warm it up just a touch with a 1/4 or 1/2 cto. Might not,. cause I like it as is.

[ttosifa]

I personally don't care for the nose shadow. For me, your flash is too low and too far left, I think, making her nose shadow go up and extend too far into her face for this picture. I also think the light placement lights her arm much more than her face, which also does not appeal to me (the extra lit arm, not her face!).

I also don't like the background. I keep looking past the model to figure out what's back there.

But it's a good effort, and certainly a good picture.

EDIT: And assuming that the "white" parts of her dress are indeed white, it seems you have some sort of white balance issue.

[natek313]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Great points to note.

Originally Posted by CaptainNH

The key to getting soft light from your umbrella is to get it as close as you can to the model.

Large light sources, up close to your model is the key. Have one of your well-paid assistants (), move the light stand in until it just appears in your shot, then back it off a couple of inches.

Wow. Really? That just seems counter-intuitive to me for some reason. But, thank you for the information. I'll take note and give that a try on some willing soul. Haha.

Thanks again!

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by natek313

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Great points to note.



Wow. Really? That just seems counter-intuitive to me for some reason. But, thank you for the information. I'll take note and give that a try on some willing soul. Haha.

Thanks again!

tru dat on moving the light source in...

[CaptainNH]

Originally Posted by natek313

Wow. Really? That just seems counter-intuitive to me for some reason.

It doesn't seems to make sense does it, but it certainly works. Here's how it was explained to me at a lighting workshop once......

Q: Large light sources make for softer light, so, what's the largest light source you can think of?
A: The sun, right? I mean, it's really, really big.
Q: Then why does it cast such harsh shadows?
A: 'Cause it's soooooo far away, it acts like a (really bright) point light source.

Anyway, try it for yourself. It's definitely the way.

[natek313]

Well, yeah, it makes complete sense when it's put that way. Thank you!