This frame comes from an aquaculture shoot in Shetland a few years back and features Area Manager Robbie Coutts – an all-round great guy who was fully invested in helping create strong images (which always makes a huge difference).
It’s a very simple shot, taken early one morning at a shore base near Scalloway, as I recall. Captured in a matter of minutes before heading out to visit a farm, it was shot on a 50mm lens, wide open, to create that three-dimensional “pop” with the subject sharp against a softer, more atmospheric background.
Lighting-wise, there’s an off-camera flash positioned high and straight on to Robbie, and likely a graduated ND filter bringing the sky down a touch. For outdoor flash work, I use cameras that sync at 1/400s alongside ND filters—this gives me control over ambient light when balancing with flash, without relying on high-speed sync, which I’ve never really been a fan of and often leads to overheating and missed shots.
A slight departure from the house style developed with SSF, but I like it a lot – perhaps leaning a bit more towards an editorial feel.
