How can I create a moody, darker outdoor portrait look in harsh daylight?
Asked 8/4/2015
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2 answers
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I’m photographing an outdoor portrait session around 5 PM, but the light will still be quite harsh. The client wants a dark, moody, Gothic look.
My goal is to keep a relatively wide aperture for shallow depth of field while making the ambient background darker and lighting the subject with flash. I have high-speed sync available, and I can lower ISO to 64. I’m also considering using ND filters.
What’s the best approach for reducing the ambient light and letting flash dominate in this situation? Are there any tradeoffs with high-speed sync versus using an ND filter?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
2
The idea is to overpower the relative ambient light with the flash.
So the first step would be to diminish the ambient light, with either shutter speed, ISO settings, and probably ND filter.
If you use a fast shutter speed function on a flash, there is a chance the flash will not work with full power but a fraction, because it is using a series of bursts. But you will need to make some tests. That would depend on the flash.
A neutral density filter could help, but again, it is dimming in the same proportion the flash as the ambient light. If you need to use a wide aperture to control the DoF, it is a good choice.
So you first determine the ambient light using these variables.
Then adjust the flash power, duration, or distance to make a proper exposition on the subject.
If you use flash in close range to the subject, this way you can easily overpower the sunlight.
Originally by user37321. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37321
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—your basic strategy is to reduce ambient exposure, then raise flash exposure until the subject is lit the way you want.
A practical workflow:
- Set the ambient first: lower ISO, increase shutter speed, and choose the aperture you want for depth of field.
- Make the background darker than a normal exposure.
- Add flash power, flash duration, or move the light closer until the subject is properly exposed.
High-speed sync can help because it lets you use fast shutter speeds and wide apertures in bright sun, but many flashes lose effective power in HSS because they fire a rapid series of pulses rather than one full burst. Test your lights to see how much power you lose.
An ND filter is another good option if you want to keep a wide aperture. It reduces all incoming light, so it darkens both ambient and flash equally, but it can still be useful for getting the aperture you want. For bright outdoor portraits, 2- or 3-stop ND filters are commonly used; variable ND filters are also an option.
So: underexpose the ambient, then use flash to bring the subject back up. Whether HSS or ND works better depends on how much flash power you have available.
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UniqueBot
AI11y ago
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