On Location Photography: Planning Your Post Processing

Step Five

To add more drama and edge to the image, I added a second Elinchrom Ranger using a standard reflector on the head. This head was placed behind and above Chris to act as an accent light, and add a highlight to his sweatshirt. By this time the wind had really picked up and a few snowflakes were already blowing in the wind. My first shot with the accent light produced a bright highlight right on the tip of Chris’s nose—not good. The difference between a good portrait and a great portrait is in the details, and this was a detail that needed fixing. I moved the accent light further behind Chris, which eliminated the hot spot. Now my lights looked good, so I shot a variety of horizontal and vertical images working different poses. I jump back and forth between technical and creative on shoots. Once the lights look good (the technical), then I focus on the creative.