6. LIGHTING OUTDOORS
When I set out to create a portrait outdoors, the first thing I look for is the existing light in the scene. I always try to incorporate this into my lighting mix—whether it comes through a window or doorway, or streams down through the trees. Sunlight can be a beautiful accent light (it’s great for background separation) or it can be bounced back onto your subject. Unfortunately, Mother Nature doesn’t always work on our schedule, so it is important to learn to see the
ambient light, to control it, and to add additional light creatively.
In this chapter, we’ll look at a variety of lighting techniques that you can use as inspiration for your own photographs. Whatever lighting tools you choose to employ, remember to use your knowledge of light placement when shooting outside. On-camera flash, placed on your camera’s hot-shoe mount, is not acceptable; it will typically produce images that are flat and amateurish.
LIGHTING OUTDOORS 79
Photograph 6-1 of Irena Murphy was created on Catalina Island in California. The location was well shaded and lacked any usable available light. Shaun Nink, my nephew and awesome assistant, was positioned at the top of the stairs with the Sunbounce. A micro-mini zebra reflector was chosen as it closely resembled the warmth of the California sun. This was equipped with an SB800 flash powered at one stop over the
ambient light. Had there been available sunlight, I would have not used the flash on the reflector; I could simply have bounced the sun onto Irena’s hair.
The main light was a single SB800, powered at one stop lower than the ambient light. This was just to camera left and positioned to create a butterfly lighting pattern. This was fitted with a LumiQuest mini softbox modifier, and you can see the soft transition of highlights and shadows it produced. Using a low contrast ratio worked well for this slightly overcast day. Notice the beautiful, warm light on Irena’s hair (and the highlights on the stairs behind her). This accent/ hair light was created using artificial bounced light via the Sunbounce. Without this added light, the photograph would lack dimension.
Remember: our job as photographers is to create the look of a third dimension in a two-dimensional print. The only way to do this is through lighting.
PHOTOGRAPH 6-1 (FACING PAGE). SUBJECT:
Irena Murphy. CAMERA: Nikon D300. SET-
TINGS: Manual mode, 1/160 second, f/6.3,
ISO 400.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO IMPROVISE
When working outside, think of the lighting as if you were in a studio and you’ll do great. Let’s look at a very simple portrait created for artist Denise Burns while on location on Catalina Island, California (photograph 6-2). Desiring a soft portrait that coincided with the beautiful Monet style of Denise’s paintings, the location was selected and the sunlight was diffused using a single translucent fabric reflector that added a soft edge transfer on the subject’s hair. Denise has a round facial shape, so creating shadow to shape her face was
Set scene for PHOTOGRAPH 6-2.
required. Not having my traditional gobo handy, a black jacket was placed over a reflector—and it proved to be a great substitute, subtracting light and sculpting her facial mask. Clients are paying you to be a problem-solver, not for making excuses about the poor sculpting in their images. A single SB800 powered at one stop below the ambient-light reading and affixed to a micro-mini Sunbounce zebra reflector added the proper warmth for this timeless portrait of Denise.
PHOTOGRAPH 6-2 (FACING PAGE).
SUBJECT: Denise Burns. CAMERA: Nikon D300. SETTINGS: Manual mode, 1/250 second, f/8, ISO 400.
82 THE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER’S GUIDE TO LIGHT MODIFIERS
