12/31/08 - Dramatic Flash

Lately, I've been experimenting alot with using "off camera" flash for more creative lighting. This particular image was taken of my daughter as she was laying on the floor watching TV. Behind her, you can see the flames of the fireplace. My objective was to produce a dramatic image by controlling and limiting the amount of light that spilled onto my subject, while keeping a hint of the fire in the background. I did this by underexposing for the ambient light and shooting a strobe through a white umbrella at camera right. The strobe was set on manual at 1/16th (if I recall correctly).

12/20/08 - 2008 Christmas Pic

This years Christmas pic of the girls was created with a strobe at 1/16 power, bounced off an umbrella at camera right. The goal was to provide highlight to the portraits while maintaining the existing ambient light of the tree and christmas lights in the background.