I enjoying using our backyard as a background. First of all I don’t have to light everything and we love the trees.
For this photo I wanted to tie our daughter playing her viola to the outdoors.
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| This is a wide shot to show the flashes. They are on Manfrotto 5001B Nano Black Light Stands and the Manfrotto 175F Justin Spring Clamp with Flash Shoe to hold the flashes. |
I am shooting in TTL mode and after I take a shot I am using the compensation dials on the camera and the PocketWizard AC3 to adjust my exposure.
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| In this photo of the PocketWizard AC3 A is set to a +1, B is set to +2 and C is set to a +3 compensation. |
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| The PocketWizard AC3 sits on top of the PocketWizard Mini TT1 in it’s hot shoe. You can also use the Nikon SU-800 to do the same thing. |
In the first photo I have the camera at -1 compensation and the flash on her face at 0 Compensation and the hair light at +2 compensation.
You really just have to play with this to get the results you want.
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| Here we are shooting more in the woods than in the first photo. Here the camera is -1 1/3 EV. The flashes are at +1 EV. |
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| She is getting some sunshine from the left and the flashes are lighting the shadow side of her face. |
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| We moved again around the backyard to a different background. Also changed the lighting a little here as well. The camera is set at -3 EV and the flashes are on the right set at +2 EV and the one on her left at +1 EV. |
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| This is the actual lighting setup for the photo just above it. |
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| I am using an -1 EV so as to not loose the background but just tone it down a bit. The flash to the right is +1 EV and the hair light flash is +2 to help separate her from the background. |
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| The lighting setup for the above photo. |
The idea with the two hot shoe flashes was to use them to compliment the lighting outside. I used one light to help separate the viola player from the background by putting the flash up high and using it as a hair light would be used in the studio. I am using the other flash as the main light and using the natural light to control the background.
Because I am outside I am using the PocketWizard radio remote system to be sure the signal is reaching the flashes.
Once you master the use of the one off camera hot shoe flash and you are ready to expand try this exercise yourself. See what results you come up with using your camera and flashes.
