For my third shoot to test the Profoto B2 as a studio light, I went down to Brighton beach to see how well it would work in sunny conditions.
Women’s Swimwear Scenario
Talent: Chontelle Berryman from Vicious Models
Location: Brighton Beach, Australia
Time: Morning
Conditions: Full sun (sometimes I used the shade)
Assistant: Friend (and sometimes talent in front of the camera) Dezeraie helped as a Voice Activated Light-stand (VAL)
Gear: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM, Profoto B2 Off-Camera Flash (1 head), Air Remote TTL-C, OCF Softbox 2′ Octa
Enhancing the Sun
As a mostly “natural-light” shooter, the way I approach most lighting situations is to enhance light that already exists. That means that when I set up my lighting, I think about placing the light in a way that it still looks naturally motivated; like it’s coming from a real place.
The technique that I used in this shoot was inspired by one of Joey L’s great little tutorials on ways to light with the sun and a strobe light.
In this shot of Chontelle, I had Dezeraie standing off to camera left holding the Profoto B2. The sun was also to camera left but a bit behind Chontelle. With the OCF Softbox 2′ Octa attached to the B2, I was able to add some studio-like soft light to a naturally hard light situation.
Here the Profoto B2 is enhancing the high sun.
Have a look at the difference the Profoto B2 with the OCF Octa make to the scene.
In this comparison image, you can see what the shot looks like with natural light on the left and with the Profoto B2 acting like a soft studio light on the right. Both images have the same toning applied but neither are retouched.
As a side note, my sunnies look better on Chontelle.
Enhancing the Shade
When the sun is high and I want soft light, I usually head to a shaded area. Sometimes the light in the shade is perfect, but other times it just doesn’t have the effect I’m looking for.
I found this really great shaded spot beside a long jetty. I really loved how I could use it as a leading line. Although the light was soft, it wasn’t the studio quality I was looking for so I had Dezeraie on camera left with the B2/Octa combination.
This is the same direction as the natural light would be coming from, but I could precisely place it on the angle and with the light quality I wanted.
Here’s what the scene looks like without the strobe.
Another great reason to use a strobe in a situation like this is that you can use it to balance your highlights and shadows. In the case of this shot, it allowed me to pull back the highlights while still getting the right exposure in the shadows.
Exposing for the highlights leaves the shadows too dark (right). Exposing for the shadows makes the highlights blow out too much (middle). Using the Profoto B2 as a studio light allowed me to expose Chontelle in the shadows while controlling the blown out highlights (right).
Just like Goldilocks for photographers.
Profoto B2 as Studio Light Outdoors
I was really impressed with how easy it was to balance the light in this sunlit situation. It really did allow me to add studio light to an outdoor shoot.
My review of the Profoto B2 is now up – check it out if you’re interested in more details.
Have an awesome day!
MK