I have been going through my files, preparing for next week when I teach lighting to photography students in Hawaii.

One of the tips we will discuss is learning not to light everything. So here in this photo, I just used the existing light, and the camera is set to -2 EV, and then I added strobes that are zoomed in to just light the subjects. So the strobes are set around +2 EV.

Nikon D3s, 14-24mm, ISO 400, ƒ/3.2, 1/400

Here is the same photo without the strobes. See how the strobes make the subjects “POP” and help saturate the colors.

Click on the diagram to see it larger

Here is the lighting diagram for the top image.

Nikon D3s, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/5.6, 1/250—Off-camera fill-flash using the Nikon SB-900. The flash is on the Pocketwizard TT5 and is triggered by the Mini TT1 on the camera with the AC3 to control the flash’s output.

By underexposing the background, I am saturating the colors of the sky. Then the flash helps light the subjects to be correctly exposed and draw your eye to them.

Nikon D3s, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/5.6, 1/250

Click on the image to see larger.

With no strobes, these photos just don’t “POP” like I want them to do.

Nikon D3s, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/200—Off-camera fill-flash using the Nikon SB-900 & Nikon SB-800. The flash is on the Pocketwizard TT5 and is triggered by the Mini TT1 on the camera with the AC3 to control the flash’s output.

Now here is an example where using two lights on either side of the subjects starts to create what I call an “unnatural” light setup. Now they look like this is a painted background, and they are on some cruise ship where you get your photo made.

Nikon D3s, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/200

If you want your photos with light to truly “POP,” remember not to light everything. Use light sparingly for more dramatic images.