A single light can make all the difference: Sony A7R II, 85mm G Master and strobe capture sunset portraits

 

 

You don't need a lot of fancy lights to capture great, well-lit portrait shots. In fact, oftentimes you can utilize natural light and capture excellent results. But what about around sunset when you want to shoot against the late-day sky? Achieving good results when only using natural light is very difficult with the sky often appearing blown out and not the soft orange glow that you hoped to capture.

Photographer Manuel Ortiz utilized a Flashpoint Xplor 600 TTL strobe with a Godox X1T trigger and a Paul C buff 47-inch Octabox to help illustrate how effective just a single strobe can be in creating a well-exposed portrait against the setting sun.

In the video below, you can see Ortiz working with a model, Diana. Using a Sony A7R II and the new Sony 85mm f/1.4 G Master lens, he goes through a variety of poses and camera settings, including showing portraits before and after using the strobe.

If you'd like to see more of Manuel Ortiz' work and tutorials, visit his website and YouTube channel. You can also check out the pair of videos below on golden hour and high speed sync portrait photography. 

(Seen via DIY Photography)