How to Mimic the Light of the Setting Sun Using Only a Single Speedlight

Sometimes, whether because of location, logistics, or timing, you'll want to mimic the look of natural light using strobes. This quick and fun video will show you how to recreate the look of a setting sun using nothing more than a single speedlight. 

Coming to you from David Bergman over at Adorama, this helpful video not only shows you how to mimic the look of the setting sun, but also reveals the thought process behind recreating such a look. As Bergman mentions, this requires considering three things: the quality, direction, and the color of the light. Even though the sun is huge, it is 93,000,000 miles away, which makes it a relatively small source for us Earthlings; as such, Bergman chooses a single speedlight without a modifier placed a fair distance from the model. To mimic the color, he simply places a CTO (color temperature orange) gel over the light. It's a fairly simple and easy process that doesn't require owning much equipment, so grab your speedlight and give it a try! Remember to shoot in raw so if you find the results a bit too orange for your taste, you can easily adjust the white balance in post. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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6 Comments

Hmm...doesn't really look like a sunset.

Cool, although I don't think using full CTO does a very good job at mimicking sunlight.

Totally agree.

I agree. I think it can be somewhat more orange than this but the level of orange saturation in the video looks more like a dance club to me than a sunset.

I was wondering where I saw this before. After some rummaging through my memory I remembered.

It was in the hands on guide to CLS by Joe McNally. Almost the exact same idea. Not criticising by the way just highlighting. :)

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/dvd/a-hands-on-guide-...