PHOTOGRAPHY.

TO WRITE WITH LIGHT.

    This is an outtake from a shoot earlier this year with Mikaela. We ended up with almost two full days of shooting, from horses, to old trucks, to the fairgrounds, to the riverside, fashion, lifestyle, and eventually shooting some exciting shots at sand dunes.  She is well on her way to a full fledged modeling career and I wish her the best along her journeys.  No doubt, our paths will cross again.

    I rarely take behind-the-scenes shots.  This is primarily due to one legitimate reason - I forget to.

    You see one light setup here; however, this is a two-light creation.  On the left is a Nikon SB900 in a white umbrella, bounced.  The main light is out of view to camera right.  It is commonly referred to as the sun.  You can clearly see that there are scattered clouds to the west, which was a blessing, actually, as they subdued the main light.

    Below, we have a portrait taken a few minutes later, one of the last shots of the day.  As the sun set and the light became darker, I continued to lessen the power output of the SB900 to maintain a delicate balance of light on the model.

    A reflector may have worked pretty well for this particular shoot.  Winds were very light, so I may have been able to use a reflector stand.  An assistant would have been ideal if I had used a reflector.  Using a speedlight allowed me lots of control of the lighting, which I managed with Pocket Wizard TT5, TT1 and AC3.

    For those who claim that they like only natural light, I must proclaim that all light is natural!  But we don't need to argue over that (though it might be fun.)  Bottom line is that for my style of shooting, I generally like for the viewer to enjoy the image one way or the other without being caught up over the technical aspects of the shot.  By enhancing the light on Mikaela's right side of her face and body, I do believe that this may be a portrait worth savoring.

    And then the sun went down.