A favourite genre of mine for many years. This specific style does require a little more knowledge and practical skill. Namely: lighting, aesthetics, storytelling, composition, and posing. Some post-processing is nearly always required to add those unique nuances that fuse a vision.
As a commercial photographer, sometimes we can’t always choose the time of day that most suits the brief. I was requested to produce an image with a ‘romance at dusk ambiance’. However, our shoot window was 1 p.m. on a bright and sunny day!
An Elinchrom 12,000 Ws (powerful) portable flash head was used to overpower the sun’s lighting dominance within the proximity of a small and select area. The background didn’t become darker; the tent and couple scene became brighter. This is key to the technique.
No single portable light can physically reduce the sun’s relative intensity (especially either side of noon) over distances much greater than this.
If you don’t own a light this powerful (most don’t), you have the option to hire or, if optional, simply design shoots around times of far less brightness and contrast.
Bjorn.
