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After he finished a mini-triathlon recently (where I got some experience), I cajoled Chad into a little target practice for me in this cool wooded area near the finish line. I was going for a more dramatic look here than the typical happy, sunlit shot, so I dropped the exposure of the ambient (lit by sunshine) portions of the photo way down so that it looked relatively dark for a daytime shot. Then I selectively lit his face and shoulders with a restricted hard light, which creates dark, edgy shadows. The light from the (snooted) flash falls off rather quickly and is gone by the time it gets to his waist. The depth of the shadows is controlled by how much ambient light I let into the shot, so I was able to keep the shadow side of his face is dark, but you can still see the detail of his ear. Total control, right at your fingertips - I love it.

This is not a subtle look, but I think it has more impact this way. What do you think?

Strobist info: Snooted SB-600 slight camera left on 1/4 (+ 2/3 stop) power with a 1/4 CTO gel.

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