Playing with light and white balance during a portrait session

Sunday 25 August 2024, 13:31 by Nando Harmsen | 2,651 views | 6 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

As a photographer, you are not completely dependent on the existing lighting conditions. With one or two flashguns, there are plenty of fun possibilities. In this article, I explain more about the camera and flash settings during a portrait session with Sanne.

Model or portrait photography in a studio gives you complete control over the light. If you take the flashguns outside, it is called strobist photography. Thanks to the flashguns, you keep control over the light. But you always have to take the existing light into account.

Behind the scenes with Sanne, with the lamp in front of the wall turned 180 degrees.
I took Sanne to Strijp-S in Eindhoven for a short photo session. It was early in the evening, with a low sun hidden behind the tall buildings. That is a lot of words to say that we were photographing in the shade.

The idea for this photo was simple. An almost silhouette against an illuminated wall. This was a brick wall, with a texture dark enough to make a patch of light possible. The exposure I chose was ISO100, f/6.3 and 1/125 sec.

ISO100, f/6.3 and 1/125 sec. Underexposed, with a hint of the existing light.
I then placed a flashgun behind Sanne, aimed at the wall. This flashgun provides the light against which Sanne should be visible as a silhouette. Because a little existing light is still being recorded, I do not have a complete silhouette.

A flashgun directly behind Sanne, aimed at the wall.
The next step is to add more atmosphere. I want a blue background. I achieve this by adjusting the camera's white balance. Until now, it was set to daylight (sun symbol). By setting it to tungsten, the photo turns blue.

Setting the camera's white balance to tungsten creates a blue cast.
I do want a little more light on Sanne's face. That is why I place a second flashgun on the left. I fit it with a 30-degree grid so that this light does not reach the wall. I do not use a softbox or umbrella because I want hard light.

Flashgun number two, on the left. The 30-degree grid prevents light from spilling onto the wall.
Because of the white balance setting, Sanne's face is naturally blue too. That does not look very good, and I want to give this light a normal warm colour. I achieve this by fitting the flashgun on the left with a full CTO filter. In other words, this orange filter compensates for the blue colour caused by the white balance setting.

With a full CTO filter, the flash light on the right becomes orange. This compensates for the blue colour caused by the white balance, making it look like neutral daylight.
Then it is simply a matter of editing the photo in Lightroom Classic. You can do this entirely according to your own wishes and taste. This is my version.

The edited final result.

You might also like

• 

  Choose white balance to suit your taste and create the right mood

  by Nando Harmsen

• 

  Beware the so-called perfect white balance

  by Nando Harmsen

• 

  Which Strobist kit would you recommend?

  by Elja Trum

• 

  Working with flashguns, the basics of flash photography

  by Elja Trum

• 

  Choose a Good Balance in Your Photo

  by Nando Harmsen

• 

  Combining Coloured Light with Flashguns

  by Frank Doorhof

6 comments

Have your say

Please note: Articles older than a week can only be commented on by signed-in visitors.
Would you still like to comment? sign in or create a free account.