Big Flash, Small Flash, Far Away

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WHO SAYS WHEN YOU MOVE the light far away it’s got to be big? Like all things photographic, the answer is a definitive “Sometimes....”

This picture of the wildly beautiful, leaping Bleu, one of our favorite people to work with at my studio, is a sun/flash combo shot. Lots of sun, hence, lots of flash.

The sun is blazing, just getting a touch warm, but not yet near the horizon. Blasting, in other words. How do you tweak, shape, or even mildly redirect this freight train of light power?

One way is to open up a big can o’ whoop-ass flash power. An AC-powered 2400 watt-seconds unit. No small flash, no battery packs. ...

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