Learn How to Light and Shoot This Dramatic Portrait

A portrait with a dramatic golden sky behind the subject is a highly popular and timeless look, and it is also a fantastic way to learn how to balance artificial and ambient light. If you are new to the technique, this helpful video tutorial will show you how to set up and shoot such a portrait, including a lesson in using high-speed sync.

Coming to you from Eli Infante, this awesome video tutorial will show you how to light and shoot an outdoor portrait. This type of portrait is excellent practice for learning lighting, as it forces you to account for both artificial and ambient light simultaneously and balance them. The need for this arises from the fact that you need to expose for the sky to prevent blowing it out, but in doing so, your subject will likely be quite underexposed, necessitating the addition of artificial light to balance the frame. In this case, Infante uses a wide aperture, which gives the sky more of a painterly effect, but this then requires the use of high-speed sync in order to use a faster shutter speed. It's a great lesson in multiple techniques and will help you produce eye-catching images. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Infante.