Fashion Lighting In The Desert Made Simple
January 22nd, 2009So I recently shot a fashion shoot advertising campaign out in Las Vegas and on one of the days we had to go find a long strip of road with very little traffic. I had five models and about an hour before the sun went down. Instead of setting up a really complicated lighting scheme I just worked with the sun and my Metz 54mz on camera flash. I had my assistants park the car so the sun would be behind the model or at least coming from the side of her. Taking out the Metz I had so much going on in my head, how should I pose her, expression, how much longer til I lose my light etc., I said screw it ! Let’s just shoot ! I was up close, about 4 feet from the subject on a wide lens, this creates a grand look. It took about 3 shots to dial in my exposure and this is what I ended up with. The client loved it !
Fashion Shot for Deliverance Poker
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:29 pm
great image and love how simplistic the setup was.
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January 22nd, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Thank you Stikman. What’s your name btw ?
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January 25th, 2009 at 4:20 am
Hello, love the pics you have taken!
Impressive.
I want to be a fashion photografer .
Peace and love
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January 26th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Hi Amne ! Thank you for the compliment !
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January 28th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
“Taking out the Metz I had so much going on in my head, how should I pose her, expression, how much longer til I lose my light etc., I said screw it ! Let’s just shoot !”
Ha ha, I know that feeling alright! Great shot by the way! Can I ask how you determined the white balance for this image? The setting sun and flash aren’t exactly side by side on the Kelvin scale and it looks to me like you’ve gone for a compromise between the two rather than in favour of one or the other.
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January 29th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Thank you Thorsten ! I actually didn’t even think about my white balance. I set the camera white balance to “flash” and adjusted a little bit in post. NORMALLY I use a gray card and color chart but there just wasn’t enough time. I mean the sun was going down sooooo fast I just wanted to capture a great shot and I also know my camera so well by now that I can see what the shot will look like with each white balance setting.
Now don’t think that this is the correct way to handle this ALL the time, but there are times when you just gotta shoot. I mean back in the film days you used what film you had in your bag if you didn’t have the correct film you just went with what you had.
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March 8th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Easy and simple! Great work.
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March 9th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Thank you Jimmy ! Cheers !
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April 9th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Great shot! Really like the way you framed this picture. Lighting looks great!
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April 9th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Thank you Todd. Just shows that you don’t always need expensive huge lighting set ups to get great results
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April 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 pm
did you use your flash for this shoot or soft boxes
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April 24th, 2009 at 9:59 am
For this shot I just used my Metz on camera flash. I actually didn’t have on the camera. It was on an off shoe cord held out to my right.
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June 24th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Wow, I can see why the client loved this image…. I love this image! Love the way you were able to use natural light to get such a flawless picture. Sometimes natural light can be more beautiful than creating something artificially. Thanks for sharing Jason!
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Jason Christopher Reply:
June 25th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Thank you very much Cheri. Yes I love natural light and the whole back light look. Just takes some practice to dial it in perfect
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June 27th, 2009 at 4:42 am
You’re very welcome! Yes you’re right, does take practice. Gotta know the right angle and right time of the day:)
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