blog Lighting an entire building with flash
Posted on April 11, 2013 by admin
A few weeks ago we finally got around to see if we could light an entire building with flashes. To make planning a bit easier we chose a building we had photographed before. This made it easier to get permission for the shoot and we would have a pretty good idea of what conditions to expect. Based on what we knew from before we decided to work with a Canon 5D MKIII, a 24mm PC lens and one Elinchrom Ranger. It took us a number of test shots outside the office to figure out the right angle and distance from the facade to use the flash. Once we had figured that one out we made a drawing of the building based on a photo we had taken last year and divided the facade into sectors to light separately. Careful planning made execution on location easier but some adjustments had to be made to avoid cross-shadows from signs and parked cars. We ended up taking around 20 exposures which were combined in post production.
Below is the final image and a neutral exposure with minor adjustments to give you an idea of the actual light and environment. Click on the image to view a high-resolution version. We are quite happy with the results but which do you prefer, the unlit neutral or the final composite image?
Post production: Saila Semeri, Kuvaruukki
