What to do when Mother Nature says NO!

Had the whole day planned for this shoot. A senior portrait session with a city scape background on top of a garage. It was a location I had luck with in the past and thought it would make for some fantastic shots on this occasion.

We get to location, I begin to set up, and the first thing I do is unfurl my large 70” Godox umbrella. I set it up on a rolling C-Stand, set the brakes, weigh it down with three sand bags just in case and turn around to move on to the hair light setup. Not 2 seconds after I turn my back, a freak gust of wind comes out of nowhere and knocks it over, destroying my modifier. That was my key piece of equipment, that was going to be my saving grace amid the direct sunlight.

I have been wanting to teach myself to shoot barebulb and this seemed light a great opportunity, we’re already here.

Luckily the client was a close friend and they had the same enthusiasm about the situation that I had. We decided to shoot. It was fun, it was tedious, it was frustrating.

Using three AD200s, barebulb, and some trial and error we were able to make some decent images for the day. It was enough for the senior grad party invite and I learned a tremendous amount. Bring some bounce cards, an extra set of hands and a backup modifier or two.