SHOOTING STEPS
1 FIND LOCATION AND PREP MODEL
I like to find gritty locations which work well with a clean outfit and will often bring a lot of texture to your shots. I showed model Rhiane a few previous shoots, as it always helps if you can show your subjects moodboards or example images.
2 POSITION THE LIGHT
It doesn’t matter if you place your light to the left or right, but off to around 45° to the side, and at a 45° angle facing down to your subject is a good place to start. Of course, the further round you move, the more dramatic the shadows will become.
3 OFF TURN EXPOSURE SIMULATION
Unlike DSLRs, mirrorless cameras have real-time exposure changes as you tweak the settings. Your camera can’t predict what it will look like when the flash fires, so you’ll need to turn this setting off. If not, your EVF may be too dark to see what’s going on.
4 CAMERA AND FLASH SETTINGS
I always set my flash to Manual. Around 1/32 is again a good place to start. I’ll keep my ISO low for a cleaner shot, and use whichever shutter speed is flash synced to the camera. In the case of the Fujifilm GFX 100s it’s 1/125th and a nice mid aperture around f/8 is great.
5 PLACE MODEL FOR TEST SHOTS AND TWEAK SETTINGS
I’ll fire off a shot just to make sure everything is synced up. Then I tend to ask the model to jump in for a few more. It’s impossible to see what your shot will look like without seeing how your light falls onto the face. Rhiane was wearing a hat, so I lowered the light a little to avoid shadow on the eyes.
6 PLAY WITH POSES AND PROPS
I’ll typically start off with something quite conventional. But once you’ve got a few good shots in the bag you can take this opportunity to find a new space, shoot some interesting angles, change up the clothing a little or try out a different lens. If you have a great model they’ll only be too happy to try things out.