Janna - Fashion shoot - shot close to Menaggio, Italy on Lake Como.

This fashion advertising image was shot close to Menaggio, Italy on Lake Como. Carmelo, my assistant, is holding a FourSquare soft box with a Lumedyne battery powered strobe pack pumping out the light. By carefully aiming the light and balancing the strobe power with the ambient light, I was able to achieve a balanced light look. This allows me to use strobe lighting without having a harsh light value difference between the background and the model. Yes there is a light value difference, but it does not scream FLASH! Adjusting the strobe takes time to make it look like natural light. By adjusting the light output from the Lumedyne pack, changing the camera's shutter speed and f-stop along with changing the distance from the softbox to the model, I was able to get what I wanted, a natural balanced look. By doing this, the strobe is being used to add some light to fill in the shadows on the model's left side & add some "pop". I had the model move from the rock wall on the left to the rail on the right. When the model moved to the rail, I had Carmelo move back and rotate the softbox to have the strobe light mostly hit the model. I had a 40° grid added to the front of the softbox to further control the light "Splatter" or spill that all softboxes have. By adding the grid, I can better control where the light is going.