Portraits in Balboa Park {30 photoshoot speedlight challenge #8}

Portrait in Balboa Park. Single speedlight is used as fill on the right bottom corner of the frame.

 I put an ad on craigslist last week. I wanted to get more willing models to pose for me so I can get through my 30 photoshoot speedlight challenge a bit faster. Okay, I also admit that it gives me a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling to give people something that might make them feel good about themselves. That just may be what makes portrait photography so rewarding for me. 

Click for more photos and photoshoot reflection.

But what isn't rewarding is how much time and energy it takes to prepare for a photoshoot only to have the model cancel or not show up. I had four photoshoots planned for this week and only one actually came to fruition. Charging people came to mind, but my goodness, that sounds stressful.

Erik here wanted some beautiful photographs in order improve the quality of his online presence.  We met in Balboa park for the lovely backdrops. The photoshoot itself lasted 2.5 hours. 

I came armed with my sb-900 on a lightstand with a white umbrella as a light modifier. I really wanted to bring my softbox, I really did, but I knew we wanted to cover a lot of ground in Balboa Park and we would waste too much time breaking down the set.

This shot was taken at the area next to the large fountain, caddy corner from the natural history museum. I was shooting through my umbrella and I just wanted to balance out the available light. I pointed the center of the umbrella at his belt at a 1/8th power setting. I got lucky that the ambient light illuminated his hair. The light on his face is more or less even with just the right amount of shadows. I am really happy with this one.

I am happy with how even the fill light was in this picture.

 We then took a short jaunt to the arch hallways in front of the photography musuem (how fitting!).
I really like the color palette that the archway area gave us. The repeating pattern in the background is also particularly interesting for a portrait. Since we got such nice fill lighting results from pointing the umbrella at his belt, I decided to keep it for this set. That was a mistake. The shadows were so heavy in the hallway that I should have put the umbrella above his head and pointed it down at a -45 degree angle. The photo isn't ruined by all means, but it would have looked a ton more natural. We didn't have to light up his neck, but that's the area that gets a lot of attention with this setup.

Despite the poorly positioned umbrella, the shot itself is very nicely composed.

I hope he doesn't crop this nicely composed head, neck, and shoulders shot.

 This shot was taken in front of the botanical garden. Erik said that it was a little busy for a portrait shot, but I find that the color distribution is really nice. Again, the fill lighting with the umbrella pointed directly at his belt from the right side worked really well, with the directional lighting creating perfect face shadows despite the unforgiving full overhead sun. I wanted to get out of there quick though, because that is a VERY popular shot location in balboa park.

In front of the botanical garden with directional fill lighting.

 We then ventured into the botanical garden where we took some of the best photos of the day. The light was delightfully dim and the colorful foilage was a great tertiary color. I also got my act together and positioned the umbrella at the -45 degree angle from above, just off the top left of the photo. My only complaint is that a hairlight really would have made the subject pop. His hair blends in just a smidge too much. THAT right there is why I want a second speedlight.

These photos are OH SO sightly reminiscent of Ruud Van Empel, don't you think?

Botanical Garden Photo

Botanical Garden Photo

 We then went over to the pond in front of the sculpture garden.  I had trouble with this one. The deep shadows of the columns next to the reflection pond were beautiful, but the direct sun on that side of the building at 3pm were just too bright. I had had a really hard time here. I futzed around, probably embarrassing myself in front of Erik. I mean, I introduced myself as a photographer after all, now I can't even balance harsh ambient light! What an amateur. I figured it out eventually, after like, 10 excruciating minutes. The photo below was taken at half power shot through an umbrella sightly to the right of the photo, right at eye level. The effect looks very similar to a High Dynamic Range (HDR)  photo, which I assure you its not. I threw it into lightroom and pumped up the clarity just to enhance that effect. BTW, I use lightroom now.

My most skillful shot of the day.

This shot was taken at the fountain next to the old globe theater. I like it because there is good subject separation in this lighting setup. I also like his wistful look. Excellent modeling, Erik. Its not the most stellar image in terms of composition, but I was really getting my act together when it comes to lighting placement.

Subject Separation with a single source flash.

 This last image is my control. We took this snapshot at the end of the 2.5 hour shoot at which point Erik felt way comfortable with on front of the camera. He looks relaxed, and at ease. His smile is more natural than a majority of the other ones I took today. I didn't use the strobe for this quick snapshot, and I'm terrified that this is the image that Erik will use. Sure, he looks great in the photo, but it certainly wouldn't affirm that mastery of speedlighting is making my photos better.

 

 

In Summary

This exercise really helped me figure out the best light source positioning for outdoor shoots. There were several locations and I had to readjust on the fly. You can even tell the improvement of quality just by looking at photos from the beginning to the end of the day. Also, in the case of which I would become a commercial photographer, I think I got a good feel at how to navigate Balboa Park.

The 30 Photoshoot speedlight challenge is a Self Challenge where I attempt to learn as much as I can about single source lighting before I graduate to adding a second source to my kit! The reward of course is a second speedlight. I do my best to be reflective about my experiences to make them as instructive as possible. Read more about the 30 photoshoot challenge and follow my journey by clicking on the links below.

View Photoshoot #1 Here
View Photoshoot #2 Here
View Photoshoot #3 Here
View Photoshoot #4 Here
View Photoshoot #5 Here
View Photoshoot #6 Here
View Photoshoot #7 Here
View Photoshoot #8 Here
View Photoshoot #9 Here

View Photoshoot #10 Here 

View Photoshoot #11 Here 

View Photoshoot #12 Here