Lighting advice - Portrait shoot in a woodland

P

pinkgraphy

Suspended / Banned
Messages
20
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi

I have a shoot coming up and the location is a woodland.

Does anyone have any advice on lighting? I've never shot in those conditions before. I normally use a reflector and my trusty Canon EOS 100D with a 50mm f1.4 lens,

Is there anything else I should be taking with me? Even if it's going to be a sunny day, I imagine it can look a bit dark? I wonder if I should finally invest into a speed light?

Many thanks
 
Dappled light can either make or break woodland portraits, you reflector would help and so would some sort of additional light. i always use an old (From the 80's) auto flashgun, made before TTL but accurate enough for slide film so accurate enough for digital and start with it set to two stops wider than the lens is set and adjust from there until the fill level is correct, although two stops less than actual exposure is correct 99% of the time.

If you invest in something expensive and dedicated make sure you know how to get it do fill in flash or even force it, sometimes they over think these things and make it to complicated, which is why I still use the old system.

Also watch your white balance, woodland lighting can be very green for obvious reasons.

Paul
 
I'd say you'll need a flash. I've recently got a YN600 (as well as a Canon 430 EXii I've had a while) and the YN600 is better IMO and good value for money. Link below (not where I bought from, just the first one in the Google search).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/1717...1=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

I use mine on ETTL and use FEC to adjust until it gives enough fill without it looking obvious that flash has been used (usually around -2 FEC). If you prefer more control use manual instead. It's handy having a flash for harsh sunlight too to reduce shadows (and for inside or when it's dark too, obviously!), so would be a good investment for the future.
 
The last thing you need is a piece of equipment you don't know how to use on 'a job'.

Visit the woodland at the same time of day as your shoot, find clearings in the light, study the direction of the sun, learn to see the light. Look for locations of interest, along with clearings, there'll be paths that'll act as leading lines, bridges, streams, places you can 'shoot through' low hanging branches to frame a subject.

Then you need to know how to meter for the dappled light.

I usually aim for golden hour, where the light isn't overhead and will make more interesting lighting. Back-light is great but it's better if you're balancing it with flash or a reflector.

On camera flash is generally crap, but outdoors as fill you can get away with it if you're careful.

But really you need time to practice and learn how flash looks before you use it 'on a job'. this is a perfect job for off camera flash though, a speedlight is quite powerful compared to the amount of sunlight in woodland. If you've got a gold reflector, a zoomed on camera flash bounced off it would be quite interesting.
 
I use speedlite flash with combination of battery powered strobe flash with beauty dish or reflective umbrella.My mobile set is just the speedlite and softbox umbrella.
 
What people have said above just about covers it. When is the shoot you have coming up? If you've got time to play with off camera flash beforehand to get to grips with it this is a good opportunity for a couple of reasons. If it's really soon i would stick with what you know for now and not over-complicate things. For me, i always feel i get better shots from equipment i know how to use inside out, so using a brand new type of lighting on a shoot may not be advisable :)

1. As you say, depending on time and weather it may get alittle gloomy under the trees so could potentially add plenty of light back in for you without having to up the ISO too much.
2. As Paul said above, an un-gelled (is that a word? :lol: ) speedlite will nicely balance your the white balance on your subject while potentially leaving the greens to stay nice and green.
3. The light under the trees will be nicely soft and diffused which makes for really nice portraits, but if you wanted something a little "edgy-er" and contrasty a speedlite is a good way to achieve this.

As Phil said the golden hour should treat you well, but if you can find a decent bit of shade a sunny afternoon is just as do-able if you're careful. I know it may be a little faux pas to post a image in here but this is one of mine from last year which portrays what i've been saying. It's a shaded area on a very sunny day, avoided dappled light, and used a speedlight along with a rogue flashbender on the couple. If you've got an assistant or a lightstand and some gaffer you could use your reflector with the speedlight to soften it out again. It's worth noting i cloned out my girlfriend that was holding the speedlight and was very much in this shot :lol:

JennyandSteve (58) by andyroberts1868, on Flickr
 
andy1868 said:
What people have said above just about covers it. When is the shoot you have coming up? If you've got time to play with off camera flash beforehand to get to grips with it this is a good opportunity for a couple of reasons. If it's really soon i would stick with what you know for now and not over-complicate things. For me, i always feel i get better shots from equipment i know how to use inside out, so using a brand new type of lighting on a shoot may not be advisable :)

1. As you say, depending on time and weather it may get alittle gloomy under the trees so could potentially add plenty of light back in for you without having to up the ISO too much.
2. As Paul said above, an un-gelled (is that a word? :LOL: ) speedlite will nicely balance your the white balance on your subject while potentially leaving the greens to stay nice and green.
3. The light under the trees will be nicely soft and diffused which makes for really nice portraits, but if you wanted something a little "edgy-er" and contrasty a speedlite is a good way to achieve this.

As Phil said the golden hour should treat you well, but if you can find a decent bit of shade a sunny afternoon is just as do-able if you're careful. I know it may be a little faux pas to post a image in here but this is one of mine from last year which portrays what i've been saying. It's a shaded area on a very sunny day, avoided dappled light, and used a speedlight along with a rogue flashbender on the couple. If you've got an assistant or a lightstand and some gaffer you could use your reflector with the speedlight to soften it out again. It's worth noting i cloned out my girlfriend that was holding the speedlight and was very much in this shot :LOL:

JennyandSteve (58) by andyroberts1868, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Thank you for this detailed advice! The shoot has been postponed for now so I have time to practice! :)
 
off cam flash really does increase options I'm just getting to grips with mine properly
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top