Meatballs, portraits & flash photography
Before we get started, I want to acknowledge that the title of this post is the most random ever. Like portraits and flash photography work well together, but meatballs…??? Well, let’s just say that the first two would not have existed without the meatballs. I’ll explain this shortly don’t you worry.
So two weeks ago we went over to our friend’s place to enjoy Nordic dinner and to just spend a fun evening together. And what would be more Nordic than meatballs and mashed potatoes? Well maybe if you throw some lingonberry jam into the mix, it might be the deepest core of Nordic being, but even without it - you may call it a perfection. At least if you ask from me.
I must confess though. I lost few Finnish points during this evening - I’m sorry. Instead of going to sauna, I wanted to play around with a flash and take some photos of the host while waiting the food to be ready. Please forgive me, the dear spirit of sauna.
This was one of my favourite shots, because of the contrast and the soft light
Same but happier
Tried something more business casual
Little bit more casual, the lightning was extremely yellow originally, but flash helped a bit.
In this photo we were little bit struggling with the background - I will come back for this sofa and try again!
Together with the flash, I used Sony A7IV and switched between Sony FE 24mm F1.4 GM & Tamron 35-150mm F2.8 lenses. Practicing (direct) flash photography outside of my usual surroundings is always fun, as it challenges my imagination and gives a little bit more diversity to the poses than if you are stuck in front of a backdrop. Also you really need to think from where you want to bounce the flash, to make sure you don’t get too harsh shadows (unless that’s your goal).
We didn’t plan these shots at all by the way - just played around with the model trying different places and angles. We had so much fun! This was a good refresher to portrait photography as I’m hosting Valentine’s Day Photoshoot in our apartment building this Friday and it’s been a while since I’ve shot portraits. Sometimes life just happens, and lately I’ve been focusing more on landscape shots, but after this, I’m so bumped up to just continue with portraits!
Flash photography and photography in general is forever practice, but I'm determined to keep on practicing and by every shot - you get better. Just remember that, if you are also on your way to becoming better photographer (like me)!
Until next time,
x Krista
PS. I JUST REALIZED - I didn’t take any good pictures of the meatballs. Was too busy eating. Sorry, will take those next time. :’(
