It’s no secret: I love off camera lighting. I honestly believe learning off camera lighting is one of the quickest ways to make your photography stand out in the crowd. The great thing is, with all the affordable speedlights, wireless triggers, and modifiers on the market, it’s very easy to add off camera lighting to your workflow when on location.

REWIND: ONE LIGHT AND A REFLECTOR | A SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE LIGHTING TECHNIQUE

In the Westcott sponsored video below, Zach Gray shows you how to use three speedlights to create fashion style portraits on location.

three-speedlight-fashion-portraits-zach-gray-4

Technique

Zach shows some very simple techniques you can use in your own work to create better portraits on location. His use of two speedlights in strip boxes 45 degrees to the right and left behind his subject create very nice soft hair lights.  His main light, which is just a small octa shaped soft box, provides very nice even light on the face of his subject.

I like how Zach uses a traditional lighting set up with the main light about 45 degrees to the left of his subject, then he uses it high and above his subject, very much like a beauty dish to change the look of the portrait. This is a great example because Zach is using the same gear in the same location, with just minor changes in the main light position to create different looks.

three-speedlight-fashion-portraits-zach-graythree-speedlight-fashion-portraits-zach-gray-3

In my opinion, the image below proves my point that off camera lighting can really make an image pop, and make your work stand out in the crowd when done correctly.  The ambient light image on the right is nice, but the image on the left using off camera lighting really has a more professional look and feel to it.

three-speedlight-fashion-portraits-zach-gray-5

Thoughts

I love videos like this, because this is the type of lighting that you should learn as you grow as a photographer. In my opinion, it’s a little advanced for a beginner, but that’s not to say you should not try to master techniques like this even if you’re just starting out. The faster you practice and master lighting off camera, the better you will be at it, and the faster your images will start to look more professional.

Check out Zach and Jody’s 4 FAST STEPS TO EASILY LIGHT YOUR BACKGROUNDS article for more lighting goodness.

Via: Westcott’s Youtube Channel

Images captured via screen grab.