Flash Light Portraiture

December 28, 2016

Flash Light Portraiture

Not my image See Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1pcj8s/i_taped_a_flashlight_to_my_chest_and_stood_very/

Flash light is a great tool for photographers, if used correctly. In the past few years, I have been shooting location shoots with flash light. In the past year, I fine tuned my light craft with flash light, using it for all my portraiture shoots.

These are perfect little lights which I am able to cut and shape on the spot. But, using these lights there are still limitations such as battery life, color temperature, foot candles and can easily be kicked or knocked down.

When using these lights, the photographer has to be aware the changes that can happen. In location shoots, often times, I come across curious eyes, how I am lighting. Without noticing my lighting placement, sometimes they knock down my light or lights. My rigging is very basic, especially, when shooting at crowded spaces.

Another issue that I come across with is the color temperature changes. Using LED, battery life is limited. What starts at a certain kelvin will eventually change.

Without giving too much of my secret sauce, I manage to match my color temperature to keep it consistent with my camera white balance. I use gels to help reduce the greens on cheap LED (which is a big issue with cheap LED's)

Capturing these images, I have another setup I usually do with my camera, in oder to shoot in low light conditions. I have specific settings with my Canon 5D Mark2. One thing I can share is I like using my cheap Nikon 50mm lens. This lens allows me to change my settings a lot quicker without having to go inside the camera menu buttons. To my surprise I found great results with m cheap Nikon lens, if the subject is lit properly. Openning up the stop all the way, the images are not to milky, there is a smooth transition from sharp to blurry.

Finally, the last step in achieving the very best look for all my images is using Lightroom to do some touch ups. Using this tool helps me craft the image the way I want it to look in it's final published image.

Here are some samples of my work.