Here’s why you use proper lighting – with flash used for many outdoor shot too.
Say I shoot talented new model Anastasia outdoors using available light:
That is well exposed – but poorly lit. Even on an overcast day, there are shadows; no catch lights: not a great shot.
So now I do it again, with a big flash (a Bowens 400 Ws) with a softbox. I set the flash manually, using a light meter, as follows:
- First I meter, using the ambient light meter, for ambient light. I read, say, 1/100th second at f/8 at 100 ISO.
- I want the background to be darker than what I will light (remember Willem’s Dictum: “Bright Pixels Are Sharp Pixels”), so I actually set exposure to 1/250th second (still at f/8 at 100 ISO).
- I now switch the meter to flash meter mode. I set it to 100 ISO and 1/250th, and fire a test flash while holding the meter in the exact place the model will be. I adjust the flash level until the meter reads f/8.
That gives me this:
I think you will probably agree that this is a much better shot. And the procedure is simple. On an overcast day you can use speedlights too, if you prefer.
With the flash and a slightly higher camera angle, she almost looks like a different person!
Michael, what is a goos low cost flash meter?
Thanks
I have the Sekonic L-358. Good and low cost are not easy to combine but it is good and not too high cost.
This is just like every other before- and after shots i’ve seen. In the first picture she is just standing there and composition is severely lacking.
I do get your point though 🙂
The point is about lighting. So even if she had been modeling, it would still be badly lit.
So, Michael, in the end, your camera is shooting at f/8 and 1/250th?
You’ve underexposed the background 2 stops?
Am I getting this right?
Yes, pretty much!
Great post
When you were metering ambient light, was the light meter where you were or where the model was?
Many thanks
Daren
Where the model was!