Using strobes outside

Often photographers shooting outside in the daylight will use only sunlight for their light. Or they might use a reflector or a single flash for fill to soften some of the harsh shadows. But you can do so much more. Studio strobes, and even speedlights, are strong enough to give more light than the sun. You can make it so the sun is either gentle fill, or even non-existant for the photo.




This shot is one of a series I did for holloween. The photo was shot in the middle of the afternoon. To get the effect I wanted I used two strobes in front, one on either side at about a 45 degree angle. I then put a strobe in the back shooting into the trees with a red gel on the light to help color the leaves and to make them match the color pallet of the shot. This also gave depth to the photo, and made it seem more like twilight or early at night. I took what was a pretty good photo and I made an image instead, a work of art. Instead of letting the natural light command what I was getting I took control of the light and formed it to my will to create my vision.

Most photographers want to make images that stand out from the crowd. It is wonderful to have people rave about the image. One of the things to do to make that happen is to take control of your lights and light the scene how you envision it should be.