This photo is my favorite from Precision Camera University 2024. As you can see, it’s from the Matrix-themed photo shoot that I talked about yesterday.

In addition to having Neo join the group, the flash setup was more fancy than in yesterday’s photo. Again, a large soft box lit the subjects from the front. However, we also had a green-gelled strobe down the stairs firing towards the camera. I made sure the subject blocked the green strobe from view. The two strobes were radio-controlled from the camera’s hot shoe.

Of course, I did some post-processing, but not as much as you think. The effect was all produced in-camera. I brightened the exposure and shadows and amped up the color, especially the greens and blues. The Matrix movie had a strong green theme, but I also emphasized the blue to give it a cold urban look.

I shot this with my Sony A7C and the Sony 50mm f1.4 GM lens. It’s a great setup, but I had to push myself back against the parking garage wall to get all three in the frame. The 50mm created minimal distortion, but in retrospect, the picture would’ve looked cooler with wide-angle distortion – maybe a 28mm or even a 24.

Since I often shoot portraits in available light, I use larger aperture f1.4 lenses to gather more light and blur the background. Strobe shooting is usually different using smaller apertures. This picture was at f11. Thus, there was no need to have a f1.4 lens. A versatile f4 zoom like my Sony 20-70mm would’ve offered more options.

Blog readers, you’ll love my free monthly photography magazine. Signup for the free magazine to get articles and topics not discussed on the blog.