Crosslight

Settings:
2 Vivitar 285hv
rim light at 1/4 power,
at telephoto zoom setting,
through 1/2 CTBlue gels,
1 main light at 1/2 power,
at normal zoom setting,
through 1/4 CTOrange gel,
into silver bounce umbrella,
rim light stand was at 1.5 meters height,
light was behind subject and 3 meters to the left of the subject,
aimed a bit up to feather downward,
main light at 2 meters height,
2 meters to right of subject and in front,
aimed up a bit to feather the light.

After doing the standing portraits, we moved over to the boulders nearby to do some sitting portraits. I decided again to use the warm/cool combo of lighting, but wanted something soft for the front light. That's why I shot into the silver umbrella. The blue rim light made sense with the coolness of the background.

One cool thing, is that I was able to use 1/20 of a second exposure. This allowed the background to burn in (get bright enough), then the strobes froze and lit the subject. A nice side affect is the movement of his hair. It had time to darken the background as it blew in the wind. This gives it a very nice whispy feel. I want to try this again with a female subject with longer hair to really capitalize on it.

My biggest regret with these shoots, is using too strong of a gel. I think a 1/8 blue and 1/4 orange would have worked much more subtly. I want the lights to blend with the scene, not look out of place.

A few more from this set: