Practice shot and a ???

I recently attended a lighting workshop... the goal was to balance ambient light with the flash.

This is a single strobe (very old Norman pack) and a softbox... middle of the afternoon here in Phoenix.

I didn't like the alley we were shooting in... so... I tried to make the best of the shot.

A little PS work in the end. Keep in mind... this is just a practice shot... but... I was pretty pleased with the lighting.

So much to learn!

Question below.

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

There are plenty of ways but most have drawbacks of some sort.

I'm sure other people will chip in with their preferences but in your situation my first option would be to use ND filters (combined with a polariser if there is sky or foliage in the shot) to reduce the ambient and therefore allow me to open up the aperture more. The drawback is that the viewfinder image will be darkened and autofocusing will be more difficult but I usually shoot with very fast primes so It's not much of an issue.

Max. flash sync shutter speed, ISO 50, polarizer and/or ND filter.

Or ditch the flash and use a reflector instead.

Curtis N wrote in post #5599878
Max. flash sync shutter speed, ISO 50, polarizer and/or ND filter.

Or ditch the flash and use a reflector instead.

my thoughts exactly, why not natural light and a reflector?

nice work under the conditions and good PP

Many thanks all.

You are right and we/I have used them in the past. They provide really nice fill...but... I have run in to issues at times of wanting to shoot in locations where I couldn't bounce back enough fill to make the shot like I want it. This is where the strobe would come in to play.

Thanks again all for the great comments. Have a fun week.
Hatch