Getting an Epic Portraits with Flash photography
Hi readers! Here is another blog post of photography. For this post I will like to write about flash photography and specifically about portraits. I have heard many people say that you can’t get a good portraits or photo with basic speed lights or how most people know them, flashes. Flash photography is hard achieve, especially with basic equipment. However it is not impossible. Getting an epic portraits is about lighting, composition, good modeling, and editing. Epic portraits will caught anyone’s attention. To get an epic portrait you will usually need a flash or speed light. The reason is because everyone can do a portrait with natural lighting, but when you add a flash you are doing something different. Flash photography looks really professional when it is mastered and it is easier to create epic and stunning portraits. I will show the difference between not using a flash in a portraits and using it. My model for this epic portrait was Alexa Shulte and we took this pictures close to the Tetons in Jackson Wyoming. This pictures were taken in the middle of the day when the majority of photographers say are the worst hours to take pictures in.
In this first picture I show how I took this portrait without using any flash or out source lighting. As you can see the back ground is washed out. The sky is white and I added this effect to make it look better in photoshop.
Lighting Pattern – Split
If I try to have the background well exposed my subject is going to be underexposed. This is when we need a speed light or a flash to compensate the lighting.
Here is the final result once adding the flash. I also did high end – retouching in photoshop. My friend Douglas Phan gave me some critique to make this picture look awesome. He is an awesome photographer and graphic designer and he knows high end – retouching pretty well. Here is a link to his web page: http://www.douglasphan.com/ For more examples of epic portraits visit Sam Hurd’s web page http://www.samhurdphotography.com/
Lighting Pattern – Loop