As an outdoor photographer, I love the beautiful, sometimes subtle, often bold hues of natural light. After all, there is nothing so magical, wonderful, serene, dramatic, calming, forceful, edgy and peaceful as the diverse illumination that comes from our Sun. The different angles and qualities of light that our setting sun, our rising sun, our partially hidden sun, our totally blocked sun, our mid day sun and our invisible sun give us make for unlimited diversity of photographic opportunities. Our sun provides us with a lifetime of shooting possibilities.

The last workshop of the year is held on Anna Maria Island, Florida. It is below Tampa about an hour and is a quiet little beach community. Several beach communities to be exact. Seven miles of Island and three little towns with Anna Maria the farthest north, then Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach to the southern end.

Sometimes that what it feels like were doing. A lot of editorial assignments can be quick at best. There are plenty of times when a photo editor wants to see multiple looks from a shoot however time is limited because of the subjects schedule or because the location can only be held for a short period of time. Whatever the case being able to not only be extremely portable but also be prepared for differing lighting conditions is a must. In most cases these two things do not go together. Frequently to be prepared means having more gear than you will probably need and being mobile means only having the bare minimum. This is where knowing how to get the most out of your equipment is important.

Two old school rock anthems came to mind as I was thinking about the article for this month. Joe Walsh (and the Eagles) "In the City" began to battle it out with The Doobie Brothers "Taking It To The Streets." It was time for me to scroll through the archives for some urban images. We often get into routines when we shoot our images. We tend to find our favorite locations and return there time and time again. I admit that the beaches in Hawaii are wonderful "routine" places to go, but I live on Oahu, so there is so much more to play with. Downtown Honolulu offers so many different locations...all you have to do is look around.

Ever since I first began photographing I was always cautioned, by both colleagues and textbook, about photographing portraits under direct sunlight. Mostly, it was suggested to never photograph such imagery because of the hard shadows and unflattering overhead sunlight can cast on skin, washing out detail, resulting negatively in an overall photographic image. Yet, we see so many splendid, creative photographs produced under direct sunlight whether it's by an amateur enthusiast or the published professional. And quite frankly, some of the best results can emerge in photographing portraits under direct sunlight, but it also doesn't hurt to have light modifiers on-hand, like scrims, collapsible translucent screens, a wireless flash, along with polarizing lenses to help minimize skin detail from washing out while amplifying light to the more shadowed areas.

When looking up at the sky on a clear night, sometimes we are able to get a sense of just how vast the universe really is. If you are fortunate enough to be far away from a city then you will be dazzled with billions upon billions of these tiny reflecting gas giants. As a photographer, one can't help but get excited at the notion of how much beauty one can find in a night sky, however most people feel daunted when it comes trying to capture a starry night. With a simple search on Flickr you can find hundreds of thousands of photos of the night sky.  Every once in a while you will come across an image that was executed so perfectly, that you almost feel as if you were there. You might ask yourself, how did they do that? How do they compose that image in the dark? Where would I set my focus on? How do you light up a tent correctly during a long exposure? Lets see if we can answer a few of these questions...

I was working with a couple of new and enthusiastic assistants on a couple of recent location shoots. You all know by now that my location shoots are productions that involve finding or creating shade and then using a studio strobe or two to balance the light falling on my now underexposed model and the background.

If there’s one rule that gets drilled into photographers of every skill level, it’s the one that says the worst time of the day to shoot outdoors is between 10:00 and 4:00.  At the risk of drilling it in even deeper, that’s because the sun is high and very bright.  The angle of the light is completely unattractive and so contrasty that shadows cannot fill.  You may look at your subject and think the sun’s highlight is beautiful (it might be), and you may think that if you expose for the shadows the now overexposed highlight will add to the composition (it probably won’t).

A few months ago I took a look at some of the ways I’ll use reflectors in the studio. I’ve obviously used them on location too, but perhaps in ways that most would not expect. I have mentioned on several occasions that the difference between the light values in the shade versus the open sunlight here is well beyond what can be captured—even shooting RAW. By now everyone knows that I bring a studio strobe with me to all location shoots. Why would I bother with a reflector when the strobe will provide the extra light that I need?

I wanted to share with you a couple of shots from a series I did for a local AVEDA distributor. The images were to raise money for Hairdressers Unlocking Hope,  a non-profit organization created by Vidal Sassoon to raise money for New Orleans residents after hurricane Katrina. We shot the entire project on location in New Orleans specifically in and around the French Quarter. I want to break down the lighting for you and talk briefly about the postproduction that went into this series.

Back  in my film days flare was something to avoid, at least in wedding photography. It was so hard to control without Digital's instant LCD feedback. In 2000 my pro digital camera showed me that bouncing direct light through the multiple glass pieces in my 16 -35mm 2.8 lens could produce something beautiful and cool!

It’s all the rage now.  You just can’t take a photograph outdoors without using some sort of electronic flash to fill sunlit scenes, or create a lighting design with a mainlight that overpowers the sun.  Art directors love the look.  Clients demand it and we photographers have devised a number of methods to deliver the goods.