Sunday was the day we decided to get together and I thought
I would run you through the process I used and some of the results.
The gear I used was:
o
Canon 6d
o
Yongnuo 565ex(flash)
o
Yongnuo 500ex(flash)
As you know, this weekend was some of the best weather we’ve had in a while. That means, lots of sunshine and great temperatures. The great temperatures were definitely welcome, but when shooting important subjects outdoors, the sunshine is a force to be reckoned with. To avoid the subject squinting, you want to keep the bright sun and sky behind them. That means, you have to light the subject to match the back light. It sounds confusing,but, really all you have to remember is: keep the sun at your subjects back and light the front with your flash. Most point and shoot cameras can accomplish this with their on camera flash set to ‘on’ not auto. The best set up is to use an off camera flash if at all possible.
My customers already had a few locations that they wanted to
use for the photos, so that helped me out, a lot. The force working against us
was the small amount of shade and very bright sunlight.
By exposing for the background and using a flash for the
subjects, the pictures look well balanced. To further soften the light, I used
a 27” umbrella in a few of them.
Returning to the studio setup, I used the mentioned flashes
and 2 27” umbrellas. I also brought along a few backdrops to create a variety
of looks for the customer.
Hopefully this will help in the next few weeks of perfect
natural backgrounds.
Also, congratulations to my friends, Craig and Michelle.