How a speedlight can take an ordinary portrait and turn it into an epic portrait
Recently, I went with a group of BYU-Idaho students on a photo expedition to Bannack, Montana. While at Bannack, I was able to teach them about the awesomeness of a speedlight, specifically with a large rouge flashbender. As students rotated through my station, I was able to see the formula for making an epic portrait:
- Expose for the background
- Shoot into the sun!
- Always start at 1/1 power on your speedlight
- Adjust your flash settings before you adjust your camera settings
By the end of the last rotation, I could not believe how easy it is for a photographer at any skill level to turn a portrait into an epic portrait!
Only a few weeks prior to going to Bannack, I was able to follow these four steps in order to create some epic portraits of Jill Weaver:
Background Exposed – without Speedlight
Subject Exposed – without Speedlight
Epic Portrait – with Speedlight
Epic Portrait – with Speedlight
Also, take a look at more epic portraits I took of Baylie:
Epic Portrait – Baylie Madyson
Epic Portrait – Baylie Madyson
Epic Portrait – Baylie Madyson
If you want to see some more amazing epic portraits, check out photographer Sam Hurd’s Epic Portraits on Fstoppers.com
