How I Got the Shot 4

FLASH WITHOUT THE FLASH LOOK

Not every flash image needs to look like a flash image.

This portrait was created with flash, but I intentionally used it to create soft, natural-looking light. If you didn't know flash was involved, you might assume I simply found beautiful natural light in this location.

But the actual environment was much more chaotic than the finished image suggests.

In this tutorial, I pull the scene all the way back so you can see what I was actually working with. You'll see my light, where I placed it, how I positioned my subject, and how I used the surrounding environment instead of allowing all of that visual clutter to work against me.

Inside the tutorial you'll see:

• The complete location and BTS setup
• My flash placement
• How I created soft light with flash
• How I used a busy environment to build the image
• The decisions that allowed me to simplify what the camera saw

The lesson here isn't about finding a perfect location. It's about recognizing what you can create inside an imperfect one...and understanding that using flash doesn't mean your photograph has to look "flashed."

This tutorial is included in the VP Box. Standalone purchases include lifetime access.