Last Updated on 12/22/2014 by Chris Gampat
It’s very, very tough to balance low amounts of ambient light with strobe output–but in the latest video from AdoramaTV, photographer Gavin Hoey does a rather solid job.
Gavin takes a model into the forest and captures multiple looks with her but the biggest challenge that he faces is how to combine strobe lighting with low amounts of ambient lighting. Of course, one might think to just overpower the ambient lighting–but what Gavin wants to do is mix the two–and that can be very tough to do.
Why so difficult? The photographer has to make a critical decision of either:
– Shooting the scene with a very slow shutter speed and a low ISO: therefore giving them a shutter speed that they probably can’t hand hold the camera at but still gain greater detail.
or
– Shoot the scene at a higher ISO and therefore get reduced chance of camera shake but also need to crank the aperture and strobe down conversely.
Gavin’s decision has to do with his creative vision for the image and he not only takes you through shooting the photos but also the post-production.
The video is after the jump, but it is almost 14 minutes long. So watch it during lunch because the knowledge of balancing Low Ambient Light with Strobe can be applied to so many creative ideas.