Last weekend, I had an amazing shooting with Elena. Unlike my normal routine, in this post I won’t start with a whole lot of words but let the pictures speak for themselves instead. There isn’t much to say about the technique anyways – Softbox and ambient light is what I used for these outdoor shots. But I might mention that I was blessed with a VAL (=voice activated light stand) in this shooting.

Alright, I might lose a few words on these two shots below since this setup was actually the original idea for the whole shooting, while the outdoor pictures were more of a byproduct. In these shots, I moved the softbox in really close from above (thanks to a boom that I recently purchased) and placed a hair light in the back. The background is actually a white wall. Does that seem weird to you? If so, you might want to read Zack Arias’ excellent explanation on the topic of light-and-subject-to-background-distance. My assistant provided us with a little wind made with a reflector – I don’t own a huge fan (only a huge online fan base, scnr). Softbox from above, some wind, and boom went the dynamite! Actually, I started out with another softbox from below which gave an even more even lighting – but it stood in the way when we tried to create wind. And despite these shots being “beauty shots” I liked the fact that this light still has some character – too perfect can be boring.
I would love to get your feedback on these pictures! How do you like them? What do you not like about them? Please shoot me a comment or an email – thanks!

I said that before – it’s just great to have great friends. ‘Cause those great friends are cool with coming with you and have a great time doing some sunset backlit shots somewhere in the fields around Darmstadt. I’ve had this kind of look going through my head all day and it felt great to turn it into a reality (that kind of reality that ends with .CR2, that is). I wish I could do this kind of thing way more often. Trying different lighting situations, angles, techniques… this is, to my mind, what you need to do to become a good photographer.

These pictures were all natural light, I just brought my little gold reflector with me to bounce some of the sunlight back into the face.

Sunset in the fields

Sunset in the fields

Sunset in the fields

Sunset in the fields

Sunset in the fields