Glamour in the Great Outdoors

I don't get out much. And as a photographer, I get out way less than I should. The bane of studio ownership is the lazyness it creates. Why pack up a bunch of gear and head to some remote, exterior, location when everything I need--including and especially comfort--is right here, in my studio? Like I said, "lazyness."

Sometimes, though, I manage to get my butt in gear and head off for some outdoor shooting. Generally, when I do so, I come back with some images that I'm fairly pleased with, probably because the outdoor images are so different from the studio images I normally shoot and that, in and of itself, can be artistically refreshing.

Shooting outdoors is like going hunting. You're not only hunting for great locations to shoot at, your also hunting for that ever-elusive perfect light.

Perfect light is, in my opinion, something of a misnomer. Yeah, it exists. But, for the most part, it doesn't often exist all by itself. It usually needs a little help. Not always, but often enough. I'm talking about light modification, amplification, and removal. From a photography perspective, that means scrims, flags, reflectors, strobes, filters, and all that kind of stuff. It can sometimes be more on the simple side, a reflector or fill-flash, or it can get complicated: Large, overhead silks, big, shiny-board reflectors, and HMIs with generators to power them.

It's a rare ocassion when you'll come across perfect light, especially when shooting people as the principle focus of your shots. Why? Because you're most-often looking for perfect light coming from a single source: The sun. And the sun could care less if you think the light its creating is perfect or imperfect. It simply radiates light-- good, bad, or so-so light, i.e., from a photographer's point-of-view.

Another drawback to outdoor shooting, that is, when you intend to use scrims, flags, reflectors, and such, is the need to have others with you: One or two or sometimes more people are required, other than the model and yourself, to wield those light modifiers. That means an assistant or assistants or, simply said, a crew. You see what I mean? Shooting glamour outside gets complicated and sometimes requires more in terms of both effort and assistance. I'm not saying great images can't be captured without extra help and gear, they often are, I'm saying it's sometimes harder to accomplish it depending on your expectations and/or the expectations of a client. There's that lazyness thing popping back up again. But it's not always about lazyness. Sometimes there's no way you're going to get those great shots without help and specialized gear. The sun is fickle. It doesn't always perform as expected. Shooting outside can get complicated and require more to get the job done.

Often enough, I see images posted on photography forums where an outdoor shot of a pretty-enough model could have had so much more impact if the photographer had used light modifiers or amplifiers. I understand that most of the photographers on these boards are hobbyists but it seems to me everyone has a friend or two who might occasionally accompany you, the shooter, and hold a reflector-- bouncing some light on a pretty, naked, woman. Is that such a hard thing to ask of your pals? At the very least, how hard is it to mount a strobe on a hot-shoe and provide some fill-flash?

Shooting glamour outside can be rewarding, frustrating, time-consuming, require extra effort, but, in the end, it's the images you capture that count. Whether you're capturing these images for a paycheck or for self-gratification or even for bragging rights on photo forums, it's worth the extra effort to do it right.

Like my Dad and possibly your's was fond of saying: If it's worth doing, do it right!

The beautiful and sexy model who accompanied me to the location I shot these pics at is Ms. Kori Rae. A pal and also a photographer, Rick H., went along as well and Rick and I took turns being each other's assistants.