Having represented Scotland at international test level Cricket, Dylan Budge is a professional athlete. He is also an up-and-coming photographer whose work can be seen on Instagram at @dylanbudgephotos. He is now wanting to take on modelling assignments, so I was delighted when he asked me to make some outdoor portraits for his portfolio. The day we chose to meet in Saltcoats was pretty miserable, grey and windy by fortunately with only the occasional drizzle. However, poor light and weather should never be a barrier to decent outdoor portraiture and I decided to enhance the available light with some off-camera flash. Using my trusty Nikon D810 my chosen lighting equipment was just one PiXAPRO Pika 200 flash, triggered with their ST-IV Trigger N and shot through a PiXAPRO 60cm collapsible portable soft box fitted with a white beauty dish and grid. The set up was great for the afternoon shoot around the Saltcoats Pier area. However, we hoped for a decent sunset (which we were fortunate enough to get) and planned to follow that follow with an after-dark shoot in Dockhead Street. For this part of the photoshoot, I removed the soft box from the flash and fitted it with a Lastolite grid. I zoomed in the flash to produce the gritty look I was after. For all set ups I used Manual settings on both the camera and the flash, keeping my ISO low (mostly 160 but 200 in the evenings) and controlled the ambient light with shutter speed. I varied my Aperture setting to get the look I was after. I did not use a light stand - I used a Lastolite extension pole, with my wife acting as my assistant. I really enjoyed the photoshoot with Dylan, and he was clearly pleased with the results. PiXAPRO lighting systems are the same as GODOX and are simply brilliant to use. PiXAPRO products are available through Essential Photo (I am not paid to advertise on their behalf).
Photographers wishing to collaborate with Dylan may email him on [email protected] For your outdoor photoshoot contact me through this website.
1 Comment
|
AuthorClive Larrett is a North Ayrshire Freelance Photographer Archives
October 2023
Categories |