Jaden Michaels Shoot. - how to shoot in direct sunlight.

Last Monday I went out to Venice Beach with an awesome friend to do a quick promo shoot for her up and coming album.  We ended up finding quick chemistry to get some really great shots.

I got to really see how my old 50mm 1.4 lens handled in the sun.  I also got to stretch my knowledge of lighting while over-powering the sun with a strobist kit.

I used my Canon 430 EX II speedlight synced with Cowboystudio's RF-604 sync system.  The whole kit was inexpensive to buy and I havent had too many quality issues with it.

The shots taken were with the sun in the background.  This usually causes a problem with dynamic range.  But using the strobist kit, I was able to fill in the shadows on her face.  There has to be a delicate balance in order for the shot to come out just right, otherwise the picture will look amateurish.

What you want to do is make sure that the background is a little underexposed, you have to meter the shots beforehand and then set it up using your manual (M) mode.  Here is where we come face to face with an obstacle.  The great thing about the 430 EX II flash is that you can do high sync speeds with it.  When shooting in direct sun you usually have to have a high shutter speed so its great to have this handy.

However, the Cowboystudio sync system only allows me to sync up to 1/250th of a second where I would want it to be over 1/2000th of a second.  In order to get a proper exposure on this day, I had to change my f-stop to about 18 which isnt a problem.  Not a big deal, just have to make sure you get a good balance.  With this I also had to have the flash on full power in order to get the balance.

This made for a fun learning experience and Im very happy with the pictures and how they came out.