10 techniques for better outdoor portraits

High-end portrait and fashion shoots can become complex very quickly. Once you start using more than a single light, the photographer and lighting assistant’s workload increases exponentially, as they try to balance each light source for the perfect look. Once they have found this balance, they are awarded with total control over the lighting ratio and style – one of the greatest advantages of shooting in a studio environment. However, a great deal of preparation time, setting up the lights and dressing a set, are required to produce reliable results.

This is where shooting outdoors becomes highly attractive. Natural light is by far the simplest and arguably most flattering light source available, while the outside world offers an endless variety of background effects and image themes, all at the photographer’s fingertips.