The Need For Ballast

The assignment was to submit a pre-event photograph to publicize a gardening workshop presented by the UC Master Gardeners of San Mateo and San Francisco Counties. The free event would emphasize "crops" that could be easily grown in a home garden. Strawberry seedlings were being prepared for sale during the upcoming workshop and sale which the Journal wanted to publicize.

The shot itself was pretty simple. I found a location where my seedlings and my subject would be lit from behind to prevent squinting. Next, I needed to include a tray full of seedlings to emphasize the quantity available for sale. The tables used to arrange the seedlings were somewhat narrow, so I had the gardeners position a bench alongside the table and fill it with more seedlings. Unfortunately, the bench was a few inches lower than the original table, so there is a visible gap which is visible if you know to look for it. 

Lighting: When working outdoors, I usually employ a shoot-through umbrella instead of a softbox. I find that the umbrella, when used with a 200 watt-second Godox AD200 gave me both the power and the portability to make the shot. It is a very portable setup, as the collapsed umbrella and the necessary umbrella hold take up very little space in my supplementary lighting bag. 

Timber! Unfortunately, there is one major drawback that pops up when shooting outdoors. It seems that the open umbrella is an effective sail, and on this day, a gust of wind sent my umbrella and flash crashing to the ground shortly after the initial portrait was made. This is not the first time this has happened, and consistent with past episodes, there were two outcomes. First, the umbrella acted as a parachute and softened the landing, sparing the flash a fate worse than death. Second, the umbrella's fragile framework would be damaged and subsequently unusable. Unfortunately for me, said victim was a Manfrotto tri-fold collapsible that when collapsed, was more compact than my favorite Zumbrella. Sad to say, I knew better, and had, In fact, a simple solution which I wrote about in this older post. This oversight cost me a rather cool umbrella, one which has been discontinued by the manufacturer.

Next came the group shot, which was achieved with a sly bit redirection on my part. One of the participants, perhaps one of the members felt s/he should be included in the photo. In a rare bit of diplomacy on my part, I said I would photograph my original subject and then make a shot of the entire group, which I would have done anyway. S/he was thus placated, so I set about getting the shot ready. Since the umbrella had already been damaged, the group shot was made with direct, unmodified flash. The flash was moved farther from the group, so I would have removed the umbrella anyway, since it reduces the light output considerably.

When photographing outdoors, it is important to remind one's subjects that the visors on the ballcaps might cast unwelcomed shadows. I always tell them that if they can  see the flash on the top of the light stand, their eyes will  be in shadow. Other than that, shots like this can be a piece of cake, or more fittingly, a bowl of strawberries.