Joe Mcnally

Joe Mcnally demonstrates his bed sheet solution and takes us under his umbrella

Joe extols the virtues of shooting through a really big diffuser to tame harsh sunlight – and throws in Speedlights for good measure.

It’s a time-worn piece of lighting knowledge – the bigger the source, the softer the light

It’s a time-worn piece of lighting knowledge – the bigger the source, the softer the light. It’s true. There’s almost no light more beautiful than the light created by a 12×12 silk, interceding between the hard, directional sun, and your subject. Just the sun, and a big diffuser. But just like any chef in the kitchen taking a simple dish and making it a bit more fancy, with a camera you can do the same thing. Use the sun and the silk to start, but stir in a couple of flash units to gussy things up.

This stalwart runner [1], just finishing a piece of an obstacle course, is standing under an angled 12×12, (an Avenger Fold Away 12×12) and the sun is at my back, already quite low in the sky. The only additional accent here is a large white foam core board, held just out of frame below her shoulders.

Standing by, for when the sun inevitably failed me, was a Profoto B4 pack, with a narrow beam reflector pan on it. When this runner [2] stepped in for her portrait, the sun had crept away completely. Thankfully though, the B4, placed a considerable distance from the silk, could act like a hard sun and replaced the light. I also put a bit of extra warmth onto that light, via what I believe was a small cut of CTO gel. The fill board remained in place. Both of these portraits were shot with a Nikon D850 and Nikon 105mm f/1.4. I programmed a square format into the camera.

Under my umbrella

Now, another potentially wonderful use of the big silk is to use it, again, as a baffle for the sun, but then instead of using a big white fill card [1+2], fill gently, with Speedlights through a big umbrella. The umbrella can be a distance from the subject, next to camera.

The giveaway about the silk usage? In the upper left corner of the frame, you can see evidence of how hard and high the sun was. There’s a splash of highlight and the shadows of the silk frame. But our lovely artist, Fefa [3], is opened up a touch, by three Speedlights popping through a big shoot-thru umbrella.

And then there’s another iteration, fancier, if you will. Speedlight fill from the umbrella, and another Speedlight fill off the floor. Francesca Vilogron [4] plays the part perfectly for our shot. Now, you need help with a 12×12 and a frame, not to mention a few sandbags. I realize this might not be the most practical tip in the world, but hey, a bedsheet over a window is a low-tech, far less cumbersome alternative. And it’s all in the ‘bigger the light, softer the feel’, neighbourhood. Just occasionally, you can add in your own twist on it.

Joe utilized three Speedlights shot through an umbrella to illuminate Fefa, the lovely artist.

Here, Joe used two Speedlights – one on the floor and one through an umbrella.

3

Standing under the Avenger Fold Away 12x12, this runner was lit by diffused sunlight along with a white foam board deflector. 1

In this portrait, the sun had all but disappeared, meaning that Joe had to add supplementary lighting with the Profoto B4 pack. 2