In my previous blogs, I have covered quite a wide range of topics within the field of photography. I have shot products, fashion and even a car. However, of all the different genres there are two that I like to do the most – portraits and landscapes.

Portrait photography can be done in many ways. You can shoot using only natural light on outdoor locations or somewhere inside. There are also photographers who shoot only in studios on different backgrounds with flash or continuous light. I prefer to shoot on location using my studio lights. The benefit which I get from shooting portraits outside is that I can blend natural daylight with flash and include beautiful landscapes as backgrounds to my images. Thus, I end up with a stunning cinematic look in photos.

For this blog, I want to show you that the use of a single lamp for outdoor shootings allows to create outstanding atmospheres. For this project, I had the opportunity to photograph someone who inspires me, Gunnar Freyr Gunnarsson (@icelandicexplorer), Icelandic landscape photographer and official photographer for Canon Nordic.

The winter has settled in Iceland. The days are now shortened but reveal a unique and beautiful light. At this moment the sun rises at 10:30 am and disappears at 3:55 pm. The natural light therefore changes very quickly. During Icelandic winter the sun rises but remains very close to the horizon until it disappears again. This creates a hard and grazing light.

For the duration of the shoot, I only used a broncolor Octabox 150 mounted on a broncolor Siros 400 L. We started about 15 minutes before the sun came out, so we had a soft light with a pastel gradient in the sky. The goal that day was to preserve the natural look as much as possible. That is why I underexposed slightly and set the Siros 400 L at half of its power.

For the second series, the sun illuminated my subject from the left, so I placed the Siros 400 L 3/4 on Gunnar’s right, and I increased its power by 3 stops.

In the third and last series, I placed Gunnar so the sun was behind him. I set the Octabox 150 above him, slightly inclined to illuminate him while still including flare created by the sun.

Despite the cold, I only needed one battery for the duration of the shoot without even emptying it, which I find extremely effective.

I hope this little blog will inspire you for your future Projects!