Lighting a model using the sun
Not far from Los Angeles is Agoura Hills. Very few fashion photographers make their home here. A beautiful rural town with green rolling hills and a pioneering spirit embedded in the locals that have lived there since the towns inception.
When I look at this shot I feel something good and warm. The model’s face isn’t even toward the camera however, just by her body position, the tilting of her head and hair flowing back closing her eyes enjoying the sun she evokes a feeling of being free, young, and happy. What is interesting about this shot is it happened by accident. It was VERY windy and cold so the model closed her eyes and dropped her head back to get warm from the sun. I clicked the shutter and thought that it would be a trashed shot. When I looked at it on my monitor at home I was stunned. The green hills, yellow flowers and blue sky together with the blanket and Ugh boots just makes this photo come together.
Your model does not always have to be looking at the camera. Remember as I have said before that a photo that evokes an emotion is a successful photo. Even if something technically went wrong that just cannot be fixed in Photoshop it doesn’t matter. As humans we FEEL. We crave FEELING. Your most successful advertising photos ooze emotion which in turn penetrates us inside our hearts causing us to go purchase that product.
On the technical side, I faced the model into the sun on purpose knowing the viewer would only see the right side of her face. I filled the slight shadow with my Metz 54z on camera flash at a very low power setting just to add a little pop to bring out the colors of the blanket and green grass. Out of all the shots where she was looking at the camera, this one where she was not looking at the camera was the one that “hit” me right away. I will be happy to discuss camera settings, flash settings etc. **PLEASE ASK OR COMMENT **
Tags: advertising photos, agoura hills, camera flash, camera settings, colors, emotion, fashion photographers, green grass, metz, shutter, successful advertising, yellow flowers
April 1st, 2008 at 9:03 am
I’m really drawn to green, which has always made me want to shot outside. I haven’t yet. I like to have corol of my lighting. I have known about off-camera flash, but do not feel as comfortable with it. I see here what potential there is with it, though. I think part of what makes me enjoy this image as well is the cropping. I need to just get outside and give it a try. My locaton in mind has always been something like this, out from eveything where I have space and time to experiment.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:54 am
Hi Donny,
Thank you for the compliment and thank you for taking the time to comment on my photos. You know one of the best pieces of advice I can give to anyone is to just go out and shoot.
When I started shooting all we had was film. So I shot TONS of 6×7 and 35mm slide film. I would make notes for every frame and compared my notes to each frame when I got my film back. I spent a load of money on film and processing and that was my education.
Today with digital being so great, one can shoot as often as he or she wants and see the results right away. If you don’t like the shot, delete it. But always learn from your mistakes. You literally have an unlimited amount of “digital film” and it won’t cost you a dime !
So get out there and shoot ! Experiment, take chances
August 15th, 2008 at 3:32 am
Jason, you are correct about the sense of freedom that this photo projects. It was the first thing I though of when I saw it.
The sense of wind and sun in this image is very powerful.
What focal length was used?
August 25th, 2008 at 6:02 am
This shot invokes feeling of being in a Native American grass land. The hair blowing in the wind made me think of feathers. Wonderful Job!
It’s quite obvious you are well versed in color and composition.
I would like to get some more informtion on the setting and the Metz flash you used?
Thanks,
August 26th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Well I used my Metz 54mz-4. As for the settings, I really don’t remember. I will start writing them down though now that I know you would like to know those settings.