outdoor lighting

Could some of you tell me what lighting you use for occasional, outdoor portraits? Do I really need to invest in a ton of expensive flashes and umbrellas, or is there a better, more economical way for the casual shooter?

James P wrote in post #6405587
Could some of you tell me what lighting you use for occasional, outdoor portraits? Do I really need to invest in a ton of expensive flashes and umbrellas, or is there a better, more economical way for the casual shooter?

I shoot natural light with just my popup flash around sunset most the time outdoors and like my results. If its early enough in the day, i wont even use the flash. Depends on what look you are going for. Links may be NSFW.

Here is a natural light shot
http://img258.imagesha​ck.us/img258/4163/kim1​rv6.jpg

Natural light with popup flash
http://img71.imageshac​k.us/img71/7209/sunna4​dl2.jpg

James P wrote in post #6405587
Could some of you tell me what lighting you use for occasional, outdoor portraits? Do I really need to invest in a ton of expensive flashes and umbrellas, or is there a better, more economical way for the casual shooter?

Hi James,

To use a cliche... knowledge is power. It's what you know and not the gear you use to shoot. Having nice gear helps and having the right tools to do the job or a specialized job can really make a difference or make the process a faster one but you can shoot great portraits with very little.

If you understand light and how to control it you'll be able to do amazing things. The other side of that would be someone with huge amounts of gear and lots of tech toys that has no clue how to use them.

James, I prefer natural light whenever possible. But for general Portraits outside I use reflectors, and my flash with a hood, or reflector attached to it. A good quality reflector will cost less than 100US and last you for years.

I'm not a fan of reflectors, by the time they're reflecting enough light to be useful they tend to blind people. I use off camera lighting held by an assistant, which probably doesn't fit into your "occasional" requirement.

tim wrote in post #6406138
I'm not a fan of reflectors, by the time they're reflecting enough light to be useful they tend to blind people. I use off camera lighting held by an assistant, which probably doesn't fit into your "occasional" requirement.

A white piece of foam core held a few feet away serves as a very nice source of fill light and won't blind anyone.

However I prefer to use a speedlight thru a small softbox. I can use in it in sun or shade with predictable results.

Foam core and reflectors work very nicely as long as you can get close enough to the subject. Unfortunately reflectors are not the most efficient devices.

One thing that always fascinated me but I've never had the chance to try is a flexible mirror, such as the one Dean Collins used. They could be held 20 feet away from the subject and generate wonderful light on the subject, whether for fill, hair or edge lighting. I'm not sure of the material used but they were not fragile like glass or standard mirrors.

If you're trying to light a person to be about the same brightness as a sunny background then you need to reflect a lot of light onto them, that level of light does blind them. Flash is far more effective. If you just want fill sure use it, but fill flash is easier and doesn't require stands or people to help.

tim wrote in post #6406138
I'm not a fan of reflectors, by the time they're reflecting enough light to be useful they tend to blind people. I use off camera lighting held by an assistant, which probably doesn't fit into your "occasional" requirement.

a gold can certainly blind someone for a few seconds/minutes while you use it, but the white side should be just fine. They can be very effective, when used correctly. I've seen it done.

A simple hot shoe mounted 430EX flash will work wonders outdoors.