Outdoor lighting examples

I have a question about outdoor lighting techniques. This may be completely stupid, but I'm just now getting into lighting and wanting to learn all I can. There's a local photog I met this past weekend who does some excellent outdoor shots, and I just have no idea how he's doing this... and I didn't even see any reflectors with him or anything. Just his 5D, 580EX with bracket, and L lens. But he shoots the most beautifully-lit shots in some places I couldn't even imagine getting such shots. Click here for some examples of his work from the city park where I ran into him this past weekend.

I've seen people post mock-ups of their studios before, but what about some example outdoor lighting setups? Has this been done before? Perhaps someone could just point me to a thread they know about on this topic. But if someone had mock-ups of common outdoor lighting situations and how to take portraits in these conditions, I'd love to see them.

Say it's around noon and the sun is high in the sky. You have a subject sitting in front of you in a covering of trees in the middle of a busy city park. The sun is up there but it's really not penetrating much. All you have is a good lens, a 5D, and a 580EX with an off-camera bracket. If I were to take this shot, my flash would likely just wash the subject out. That's my thought anyway. I'm afraid to ask someone to let me practice on them, for fear of not having decent results to show them. How could I light my subject perfectly in such a situation?

Nevermind... finally found what I needed!

SBCmetroguy wrote in post #2867825
Nevermind... finally found what I needed!

Please share.

SBCmetroguy wrote in post #2867825
Nevermind... finally found what I needed!

We'd like to know as well

Sorry, I went to bed shortly after posting that. What I found didn't really have examples as I was hoping. I'll keep looking.

In the meantime, if anyone has anything, please do share.

I'd REALLY love to know if anyone here can give me an idea of how the photog I mentioned in my original post does his lighting setups outdoors, with only a 580EX on a bracket.

Most of the shots appear to be done using a lens with a large aperture ( f1.8 - f2.8 ), and as you say a flash bracket. It looks as though, high speed sync would be necessary because of the exposure having a high shutter speed with the large aperture. Try it. Place the lens on Av, full sun, and the shutter speed will be 1/2000 to 1/4000 sec. Unless you use high speed flash sync, your camera will not sync. The subjects are placed with their backs to the sun, or if under a tree, their back to the open sky, and the flash is the main light. Flash is set to FEC of - 2/3 or so.

Some of the shots are done with flash off camera, and some use more than one light. Observe the catchlights in the eyes, and this will tell you where and how many flashes are used.

If you use your lens at about f11, ISO 100, flash FEC at - 2/3 to - 1 , and get close enough to the subject, you will achieve similar lighting results but will lack the fuzzy out of focus backgrown that the fast aperture provides.

If you have a bright overcast day, and own a f2.8 lens ( 50 to 80mm ), you will have reduced light enough such that you will have an exposure of less than your sync speed ( 1/200 - 1/250 sec ). Place subject with back against brightest part of sky, flash on FEC - 2/3 to 1, and you will have very similar lighting with an out of focus background.

Most of these shots have very little flash in them and are primarily using daylight as the light source. There is some fill flash used on some. To achieve these results, turn down flash compensation significantly. Try to put your subject in a shady area to give you even lighting. Try putting the sun at your back as well to avoid the blown out sky. The following picture was taken with natural light and very little flash (-1 2/3.) I use a canopy to provide the even lighting wich if obviously not practical for what you are looking to do.

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In more than half of the example photos, the flash is the mainlight and the sun or sky provides the edgelight. In your example, you do not have edge lighting, however it is a very nice photo.

Those that use light professionally, learned long long ago that the face of a subject looks more interesting when there is a rim of extra of light around the head ( hair light ). Watch movies, even old movies, tv programs. Edge lighting provides more dramatic results, most people think.

The edge lighting can be effective with 1/2 stop less, up to a full stop or more of light, over the main light.

Having a subject face the sun is generally not good. It causes squinting, and poor facial expressions. This has been my experience.

I'm sorry Don, are you looking at the same examples I saw? Even the exif on a lot of the images says no flash was used.

I know no other way to say it, I WAS WRONG! My apologies. I took one quick look at photo 3 and thought it was filled with high speed sync flash because of the large aperture and rim light. Now that I enlarge them and look carefully ( I obviously did not see the EXIF data ), I see the softer light that make these possible. Next time I will really look before arriving at conclusions.

Looks like shallow depth of field by shooting wide open. Great exposure control and vignetting in Post processing.