Portrait Photography: Quick and Easy Flash Photography Tutorial (For Beginners)
As a photographer, one of the most important things to master is lighting. In today's shoot, I had the pleasure of working with Juliana, a beautiful model with a unique look. My goal was to create a natural look while still giving her a little bit of pop.
To start, I placed the softest light possible on her, to give her a gentle glow. I knew that Juliana had a preference for one side, so I placed the light on the opposite side to give her the best angle. I also made sure to not broad light her, but to short-light her, to avoid creating too many shadows.
I placed my reflector off to the side, to get a short light but not too dramatic. I didn't want the photo to look crazy, but rather natural, as if I was just throwing a reflector in her face. However, since I was shooting with a long lens, a reflector wouldn't be much help, so I found a perfect spot where the sun was hitting the back of her head, which created a nice two-light source effect.
When getting the exposure, I exposed the background and the highlights that were on her hair, which made the photo a little bit darker than my last exposure. I also used a soft camera flash, to give her eyes a little bit of pop. I turned it on in TTL mode and then adjusted the white balance to a warmer shot.
The cool thing about this shoot is that we didn't have to stay in one spot. Juliana and I moved around, giving us different angles and lighting. We even got a beautiful shot with her hair in the foreground, which added some depth to the photo.
Lastly, we switched to a 135 lens and moved further away from her. I lowered the light and adjusted the angle to a more forgiving and filler-in. I prefer feathering the light slightly in front, as it creates a more natural and spread-out look.
Overall, I had a great time working with Juliana and I hope that these tips and tricks on using off-camera flash will help you in your photography journey. Remember, the fun of photography is to experiment and create the look you want. Happy shooting!
