How to Create Artificial Sunlight Through Trees with an Off-Camera Flash

Flash Photography  •  Photography Tips

For many of us who inhabit cloudier climes, getting the look of a sunny day, whilst the weather is stubbornly overcast can be a challenging problem. In this short video, British fashion photographer Damien Lovegrove shows us how to re-create sunny Spain in a decidedly cloudy Manchester. To create the dappled sunlight look Damien uses a dingle, which is basically a small bush or branch with leaves on it:

These are the key points of Damien’s technique:

• Attach the dingle to a lighting stand so that the leaves protrude above the stand.
• Raise the lighting stand to a reasonable height to suggest a low angle of sunlight.
• The sun is recreated using a wireless controlled flash positioned behind the dingle.
• When positioning the flash, make sure that the wireless sensor will be visible from the photographers position.
• The flash gun is set to maximum zoom and the camera is set to the required exposure.
• The closer the flashgun is to the dingle, the softer the dappled effect will be.

Faking Sunlight with a Canon Speedlight

For most people, it would be impossible to tell that the final shot was made in grey industrial Manchester and not the sunny Costa Brava.