Ever feel like bringing off-camera flash onto a busy street location is just too much hassle? Between heavy equipment, rapidly changing daylight, and crowded sidewalks, outdoor lighting can quickly feel overwhelming.
Chicago-based portrait photographer Audrey Woulard shows us that location lighting does not have to be complicated. In this quick shoot, Audrey takes a single compact off-camera flash into a busy city setting to demonstrate how easily you can shape, soften, or sharpen your light on the go.
Essential Portable Lighting Gear for Location Shoots
For this fast-paced portrait session, Audrey keeps her kit minimal, portable, and surprisingly powerful. She relies on the Westcott FJ100 Strobe paired with the compact Octa 15 softbox. To stay nimble on busy city streets, the entire lighting setup was mounted onto a boom pole and handheld by an assistant, allowing them to adjust angles instantly and move seamlessly on the fly.
Audrey notes that the FJ100 packs way more power than its small size lets on. It provides just the right pop of fill light to lift your subject off the background without hauling around too much gear.
Controlling Light with a Softbox Grid
When Audrey wants precise control over her light, she adds a grid to the softbox. Adding a grid narrows the beam of light, keeping it strictly focused on your subject instead of spilling over into the surrounding background.
This directional lighting gives you clear control over where the flash lands. It creates crisp, beautiful highlights on the skin and hair that immediately separates your subject from the scene. It is the perfect option when you want an intentional, polished look that highlights your subject’s features.
Creating Soft Natural Lighting with an Open Softbox
Taking the grid off allows the light to spread out naturally, softening the overall look of the portrait. Audrey wanted to capture the lovely ambient light coming through the surrounding tree foliage while using the FJ100 just to gently fill in the shadows.
To achieve a creamy background and balance the strong daylight, she set her camera to a fast shutter speed of 1/5000s, a wide aperture of f/1.2, and ISO 100, while setting the flash power to seven. Using high-speed sync allows you to shoot wide open at bright apertures even in direct daylight, giving you a smooth, blurry background while keeping your subject perfectly lit.
Harnessing Direct Light with a Bare Bulb Strobe
Stripping away the softbox entirely gives you a punchy, high-contrast look that completely changes the mood of the image. Audrey removed the modifier and shot with the FJ100 as a bare bulb light.
To keep the direct flash from overpowering her model, she feathered the light by angling the flash head slightly away so only the soft edge of the light beam hit her face.
Mastering Single Strobe Portraiture on Location
Lighting on location does not require a truck full of gear, just one versatile light and a clear plan. By making small tweaks to your modifiers and camera settings, you can get three different looks out of a single strobe.
Whether you choose a grid for directional control, an open softbox for soft blendable fill, or a bare bulb for high contrast, the key is experimenting with how your light interacts with the environment. Next time you head out for a quick city shoot, grab a portable flash like the FJ100 and see what mood you can create.
Want to learn more about using lighting on location?
Check out Strobe vs. Sunlight: Pro Secrets for Natural-Looking Flash Portraits to learn how to create clean, natural looking portraits on location by balancing flash with the sun.
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