Picking the right location

Occasionally there is a place I will see around town and immediately think to myself "I would love to do a photo shoot there." The problem is that most of the time these places are a bit eccentric and unique, requiring a subject with a very distinct look, an elaborate costume, or some creative makeup that links the subject to the location or is in high contrast to the feel of the location.

Sure, I will be the first to agree that these things will enhance the quality of a photo, I just lack the financial backing to pull off something of the sort at the moment. Luckily, every once in a while, schedules will line up and I will have the opportunity to make something happen without all the fancy production that can go into a shoot. So, I was pleased when a friend of mine contacted me and was interested in doing a shoot at one of these locations.  As it turned out, a location I came across several months ago, and remembered well, would work perfectly with the look of the model I was to shoot. After all, it doesn't really get any better than street art and pink hair.  

This is the first time I have had the chance to put to use some of the off camera flash techniques I have started learning from the fabulous Speedlighter's Handbook by Syl Arena. Some of the techniques that are touched upon are off camera flash using Master flash/slave flashes. For the majority of the photos here, I disabled my on camera flash so that it would only send a "pre-flash" to the slaves that were off camera, telling them what to do and triggering them so that they would be just strong enough to fill in some shadow areas that were being cast by the overpowering sun. In order to learn more, I highly recommend visiting the pixsylated blog, you are certain to come away with something helpful when it comes to shooting both on location or in the studio with Speedlights.