Overpower That Dappled Direct Garbage Sunlight

Ever find yourself photographing groups in less-than-ideal settings? Maybe the sun is directly overhead, or perhaps there’s dappled lighting falling across your subjects, or maybe there’s a parking lot in the background. Regardless, you can take control and use either stacked or single light feathering to shed adequate light on your subjects and draw focus away from the less desirable elements in the frame.

The following diagrams include power suggestions for lighting the group, depending on whether you’re lighting with stacked flashes or a single light source:

Stacked light feathering:

Single light feathering:

Here are the key steps for conquering garbage lighting while photographing a large group: