Project Street Light: Madridejos

On my yearly trip to the sunshiny hometown of my parents, I always bring an assortment of lighting gear with me in the hopes of creating dramatic photographs with them. I must admit that I have a compulsion tendency to overpack on these excursions. And I must admit too, albeit begrudgingly, that on most of my earlier trips; I rarely used any of the gear that I had lugged with me for hours through a number of car, bus and boat rides.

Which brings me to this year. I vowed to pack light (well, lighter) and make the most out of the lighting gear that I brought. I virtually had no excuse not to: Subjects? Check. VALs? Check. Interesting locales? Check. Cahones? Check and check.

I thought about why I had left most of my lighting gear in the bag all those years, and I realized that I balked at the thought of going through the streets and shores of Madridejos with a couple of lights and various modifiers in tow. I gather that my confidence in my photographic skills (and myself in general) had not quite caught up with that of a few, yet highly encouraging, family and friends.

I don’t know what it was, but I believe this year was different. I was hot (literally and figuratively) and on fire (just figuratively). So, I took to the streets with a camera in one hand and a hot shoe flash in the other. And the portraits that follow are the results of my first foray into lit street portraits.

 

Carlo. Camera Settings: 1/250 s, f/5.6, ISO 200, 17 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/8 power +1/4 CTO gel +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, upper camera right

Chik and Mae Ann. Camera Settings: 1/160 s, f/5.6, ISO 200, 36 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/4 power +1/4 CTO gel +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, upper camera left 

The different looks for the images above were finished in post. I’ll be posting nighttime street portraits next. More to come…