How to effectively combine artificial LED light with sunlight

How to effectively combine artificial LED light with sunlight

By StellaPro Champion of Light, James Schmelzer
James Schmelzer Shot with Reflex S
Model | @adrianafrabottaa

A beautiful series of portraits using natural window light, a haze can, and the Reflex S to create this scene!

BEHIND THE SHOOT

I set up a Reflex and tested it at 12 feet away and got an exposure of f3.5 1/250 @ ISO 400 and set my camera before leaving. That way, I just had to measure the distance of my light from the subject and shoot.

I don’t use TTL because I want consistent exposure and saves time to test ahead.

The benefit of using the Reflex is that you can use flash or constant and get close results without changing white balance or exposure settings, battery-operated, and has great fresnel attachments to help direct the spread of light!

LIGHTING

I placed the light up high to cast shadows down so it’s not flat lit, when shooting without a softbox you must be more accurate and watch where your shadows are going, so I stuck with butterfly and modified butterfly lighting patterns to keep the shadows from her hair going into the face. 

I love the look of direct light coming from the fresnel adapters that helps make the lighting more dramatic.

Check out the BTS video on James’ page! @jamesschmelzerworkshops

CAMERA

I shoot with a high res camera (Lumix S1r ) so I can shoot wide and crop in later if needed, my native iso is 400, so this is a perfect light for me because my settings are always the same for this type of shooting.

F3.5 1/250 iso 400

“It’s all about simple, fast, accurate, and paying attention to the details and not your equipment!”

StellaPro Reflex S
StellaPro Reflex S

 

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