19th Jun 2007
you have the sun in your pocket
As I study my lighting techniques, I try to understand why it is I do what I do. Sometimes, I have no idea why I do something….it just works so we shoot and move on to the next scene. As I develop this blog, I am beginning to think more about my techniques, putting a label on the ‘whys” and “hows” of our approach…
For this photographic example, I would like to direct you read Strobist | Lighting 102 “Angle / Position” so you can have a better understanding of the content written below. Then, I want you to realize that you already have been developing your off camera lighting skills since the day you opened your eyes.
If you own a speedlight, remote flash, or a little device that you can sync up to a transmitter of sorts that omits powerful bursts of light, you have the power of the sun in your pocket… (relative to the camera’s ability to record certain tonal ranges). Basically, that flash can be balanced to transmit light to work in tune with a natural light source, whether you are outside in direct sunlight hacking out your camera’s top sync speed OR if you are simply taking advantage of the available light in the space where your session is occurring.
So how do you practically apply this?
In this photo example, we had just finished up shooting the bride getting ready, I then walked downstairs and as i did, I noticed small window channeling this well defined beam of light across the wall. The light was the late afternoon sun, whose rays were less intense, giving us the ability to balance our available exposure and “paint with light” with our speedlights. I thought about placing our subject in its path of the sun’s rays but we had missed the moment because the angle of the light put the rays too high on the staircase, lessening the impact of the composition. SO, I was going to make my own sunbeam 
I immediately imagined a composition with light rays coming from multiple angles. The compositional lines were going to be very strong, using the line of the stairs to intersect both beams of light. We used our personal assistant to direct the flash coming from the upper balcony in the foyer, set the flash power to 1/4 to match the quality of light coming from the sun’s rays. Then, we finished it off by adding a trusty homemade snoot. This particular snoot was on its last leg, falling apart. We ended up taking advantage of its old malleable corners, and squeezed the end of the snoot to create a thin and flat, wider beam of light. Our Canon 5d was set to ISO 160, f5.0 at 1/100th.
IMHO, this portrait has added interest because of the light we introduced, to mimic what the sun was doing above her. We shot multiple exposures, with and without the added flash. The snooted speedlight ended up adding a little flavor.
The next time you are in a room and the sun’s rays are streaking across the wall, imagine that your flash doing the same thing…
Just remember, you have the power of the sun in your pocket!
Cheers!
Matt
Perfect composition there Matt.
I get the impression that the people you shoot are always willing to do try out every idea you have in your head. Well done. I’ll always love your work. hope the wedding plans are coming on well.
Joseph
(btw, I had trouble posting comments earlier, seems like you’ve fixed it)
Hola Joseph, thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes, we do have fun with our clients. They develop a trust for our eye and end up going with the flow. We don’t do too much direction though…having fun is KEY!
I’ll look into the problems with posting. If anybody else has problems, PLEASE send me an email: info@mattadcock.com and tell me your experiences.
Cheers!
matt
niiice.
Hi Matt,
Love the image, I had a similar idea with a dress shot (http://www.nmphotography.co.uk/uploaded_images/conroy1-727604.jpg) but was luckily the sun stayed where I wanted it. Will definitely try setting up similar ones with flash though.
I’d love to see yours in B&W - its such a classical and elegant image, thought it might look really nice in B&W. Might be wrong though.
Thanks for keeping up the blog, I check it every day for updates!
Matt!
Thank you for sharing, you have taken a great picture. Nice done, I think I will try that one as well
I love your post,
All my best!
Robert Hammar
Swedish photographer in Finland
This is great. I keep coming to this blog and I cannot believe that each time there is something that amazes me in some way. It was not my intent to leave a reply but this picture made me do it… it is absolutely great… I hope that every time I’ll have the time to read your blog you’ll find yet another way to astonish me… I am an absolute beginner and if some day I’ll be able to do something remotely closed to what you do, I’ll be in seventh heaven… So I guess all is left to say is: THANKS!
Matt, nice job! You have a few things going that make this photo work, love the lines and more importantly you usage of light. We all love natural light and there has been a big movement against flash photographer for a while. Natural light doesn’t always work and there will be time were we need to add supplemental to add depth and not make an image look flat. I appreciate you blog to demystify this subject. Keep following the light~lorenz
I love reading light! This image is most excellent because of the quality of the light. I aspire to have your creativity!!
thanks to you all, seriously for commenting.
Natasha, I actually did a b&w version, and I liked it too, just as dramatic…I checked out your photo example, nice work there.. Sometimes, the sun hooks us up, if you are in the right place at the right time!
Robert, Joseph, Nicolle, please come back, post again, we have a few cool ideas coming! I’ve got a couple killer photographers lined up too!
Absolute beginner… dont feel shy to leave your name, please say hola again! I’m glad I could motivate you
We have a few tricks up our sleeves and they key is that you can learn them, just by visual stimulation! Keep practicing!
Lorenz, Good to see you here, i’ve seen you on the DWF. HOLA. I agree, I’ve heard that direct flash isnt good, big movement..uhh, i’m actually liking some direct flash…call me the hard light guy, whatever… I agree though…happy to demystify… thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for commenting
cheers!
matt
i love the shot!! im a beginner so whats “PJ”. oh masta, can i be your humble student in th efine art of photography?
Eliot, We are all beginners in this mission photographing life.
PJ is an acronym for Photo Journalism, or Abbreviated Photojournalism…
We specialize in reportage / documentary photography however we do sometimes set up a portrait, such as the example seen in this post.
Please come back
Cheers,
matt