Joe McNally Breaksdown Environmental Portraiture With Flash

Last Updated on 12/09/2016 by Chris Gampat

Sometimes it is just incredibly interesting to watch other photographers work – to see them process a scene, the light, and the subject in order to create an image unique to their own personal artistic vision. It is even more interesting when that person you are watching is a titan of the industry like Joe McNally.

In this video that we are sharing today from AdoramaTV, Joe McNally goes through the process of setting up an environmental portrait. It was really interesting to hear him dissect the shot he was creating in out loud:  talking about his settings, why he chose what he did, and how he feels that is affecting the scene and environment.

This video is full of great little tips for photographers of all experience levels, from good reminders about shutter speed affecting ambient light, while the aperture controls the flash light, to shooting at smaller apertures like F/16 in a portrait to make sure all the subjects are in focus and sharp, to skipping your fill light off the floor below the key light to keep from crossing light paths.

I don’t know about you but I always learn the most watching someone else work, seeing how they process things and how they do them. Videos like this are the next best thing to seeing it in person. This is not my style of work at all, but I was still able to glean some great information and things to think about when I am next in the studio for some portraits.

You can find some more great content and videos like this from AdoramaTV and their channel over on YouTube, here.