Rockin’ the nighttime portrait

A few weeks ago I photographed my friend Manny in my “outdoor studio,” a nearby driveway with a brick wall covered in ivy. The area has plenty of privacy and aside from freaking out the neighbors with the flash going off (when its dark out they think it’s a lightning storm), it’s a pretty convenient place to shoot.

I usually don’t do a lot of nighttime portraits, since the lack of available light can make it difficult to illuminate the area surrounding the subject. But for this shoot I decided to shoot in the dark, especially since I had just received a Westcott Apollo 50″ soft box. The rig uses a pair of two Canon 580ex II speedlights, which are attached to a pair of Cowboy Studio wireless triggers, to increase the output of the light from the softbox.

In the above photo you can see the lighting setup. Below are two of the finished shots: