Shooting
steps
1
ArrangetheflashesPlace
aspeedlightonalightstand
outsideawindow,aimingdown
slightlytocreateanangledlighting
effectonaninternalwall.Leavethe
flashundiffusedforasteeperlight
gradient.Placeasecondflashon
thewindowsilltoactasanon-direct
filllightforthescene.4
LockexposureTopreventthe
camerafromunexpectedlyre-
meteringthesceneanddisrupting
youridealexposurebalance,switch
toManualmodeforallparameters.
Foranyfurtherexposure
adjustmentsleaveshutterspeedat
themaxsyncanduseISOandf-stop
tweakstoalterglobalbrightness.2
WarmthelightTosimulate
lowsunlight,addaCTOgelor
alternativewarmingmaterialonto
yourflashes.Herewe’reusinga
simplehouseholdmaterial–a
sectionofanorangeplasticcarrier
bag.Whilenotaccuratelybalanced,
thewarmthcanbeadjustedlaterin
software.Warmingproducesamore
realisticillumination.5
VaryfocallengthForinterior
environmentalportraitsitis
criticaltocontrolwhatisvisiblein
theframeandwhatisexcluded.
Thinkofyoursceneasafilmset.In
thisshotwewanttoincludethe
secondwindow,sowe’reshootinga
seriesofpanoramasegmentsfora
longer,thinnerframeaspect.
3
Overpowertheenvironment
Takecontrolofthegloballighting
bytippingthebalanceofartificial
andnaturallightdominancein
favouroftheformer.Increase
shutterspeedtothemaximumflash
sync,andincreaseflashpoweruntil
almostallofthesceneillumination
canbeadjustedbyflashposition.6
Adjustlightbalance
Experimentwithlightposition
andtherelativecontributionofeach
flashunittothelightingstructure.
Forthisimagewe’vesetthewindow
fillflashto1/128thpowertoadda
realisticglowtothecurtains,and
theexternallightto1/64th.1
3 4
5 6
2
SHOOTING SKILLS