Had a pretty cool little shoot with these two sisters, Jaimie and Kayleigh, the other day. Not gonna lie to you, the camera was pretty fond of them… and I’m not exactly opposed to AWESOMENESS myself, which is why I’m so keen to share the results of the shoot. But first, a BIG UP to my models! They were absolute naturals. Sure, it helps to have eyes as blue and as deep as all the oceans of the world combined, but these two were hitting poses that’ll have some pro models taking notes! Good job! I’ll be putting some more pics up on the Facebook page… so be sure to stay tuned by LIKEing us here.

Now, for those more technically inclined and interested in the lighting — I was looking to do a couple of different things here, specifically with an upcoming workshop in mind (but more about that later). And all of this was driven by the two things one is most likely to hear when you mention “FLASH”!
1. It just makes no sense to me, as soon as I turn on the flash, I’m lost! and…
2. I don’t like the look of flash!

Point number one I can work with. A bit of theory, a little assistance and a whole lot of practice will soon turn you into an epilepsy inducing menace – nuking everything that moves with your flash! Its addictive… take my word for it! My name is Jan and I am an addict…

As for point number TWO! AIKONA! We can’t be having that! Which “look” exactly would that be, sir? the “look” of being able to actually see the subject in the pitch black of night? The “look” of pretty highlights in a subjects hair, perhaps? The “look” of detail in the background? The “look” of a well sculpted face? No… invariably the “look” that flash-haters refer to is the look of an unnatural, flat, white, on-axes light and the tell-tale shadow it casts on the background! And good on ya for hating it… its hideous! But Flash isn’t all evil… Sure, she can be a cruel mistress at times, but her reputation is largely undeserved.

Herewith then a mix of flash and natural light shots that I hope will show that you can in fact get pretty natural looking photos with the help of a flash (or 2)… and, with a bit of luck, some of those haters might actually say: “well, that’s not SO bad!”