Shooting outdoor portraits using the Sunny 16 rule with 1 light set up

Shooting outdoor portraits using the Sunny 16 rule

i was fortunate to attend a workshop on "Understanding light" by my mentor Dr. Krishna Mohan and i wanted to know the best way to get portraits using an external light source in broad daylight. thats when Dr. Krishna explained the "Sunny 16 rule" to us.

and a few days later i was able to use what he taught us at the workshop pretty effectively.

The primary purpose of this shoot (for me) is to darken the backgrounds and mainly focus on the subject giving it a dramatic look with 1 light source. (at the workshop we used an external speedlite) when we use a narrow aperture like f 16 at 1/125 shutter speed at ISO 100 , without flash/strobe, the resulting image will be very dark. at such situations adding light from a flash or strobe will only illuminate the subject/model at close distances keeping the backgrounds dark. so the subject 'pops out' in the photo.

• the time of the shoot is the most important criteria. this was clicked at 12:35 pm , bright sunny afternoon in my farm house at Kinya, Mangalore, India
• the number 16 refers to the aperture value f 16
• ISO was kept at 100
• shutter speed was 1/125
• here i used Elinchrom FRX 400 on a small beauty dish with a diffuser. 
• the strobe light was kept to my right side and approx 10 feet from the model
• the height of the strobe was taller than the models height , facing down
• i was standing a little behind the strobe and used the Canon EF 70-200 mm f 2.8 L IS II USM lens mounted on Canon EOS 1DX

the reason i used a tele zoom is so i could get full length as well as close up photos of the model without having to move from where i was standing. 

i used a beauty dish compared to a soft box as i wanted a much narrower beam of light falling on the model. the flash output on the strobe was kept at 5/6

here are the results

sorry for the hose pipe in the background ;)

The light diagram for the above shoot

i retried this shot on the terrace of my farm house and after the model had another dress change. 

the set up is similar to the previous dress change 

• the light was kept to the left side of the camera and much closer to the model , maybe 8 feet
• the height of the strobe was taller than the models height facing down
• flash output was 5/6 and the camera setting remained unchained at f 16, 1/125 and iso 100
• this was clicked at 14:30 pm , bright sunny afternoon at my farm house in Kinya, Mangalore, India

here are the results

here is the light diagram for the above set up

the above results can be obtained from external speedlites triggered off camera. the beam of light coming from speedlites can be manipulated from 24 mm (wide beam) to 105 mm (narrow beam) and it more benefited to photographers who dont have strobes. you will need a light stand to place the flash or can ask a friend to help out by holding the flash and pointing it towards the subject/model. 

also the limitations with shooting with strobes is the power cable. the above photos were taking using a really long extension chord but in open fields or landscapes one will need to carry bulky portable batteries for the strobes. 

these pics were mostly test shots and in future i intend to keep blogging more about how to improve and get better shooting with strobes

cheers and happy clicking. 

\\m// Metalfarmer \\m//