Load Out: an off-camera flash AI photoshoot
Load Out is a backstage set after a late club show, lit by a single bare flash that an assistant holds high and to one side. Studs and zips flare white, a hard shadow lands on the wall, and the corridor beyond falls to black.
Art direction: Alex But
- Camera
- 35 mm film
- Lens
- 35 mm
- Aperture
- f/8
- Shutter
- 1/60 s
- Film
- ISO 800 color
- Light
- Handheld bare flash, 45° high
Best for
Six frames from this shoot
Five frames and one detail, made by haloshot from three phone photos of one person.
Frame 1 · Load Out 
Frame 2 · Load Out 
Frame 3 · Load Out 
Frame 4 · Load Out 
Frame 5 · Load Out 
Detail · Load Out
About the off-camera flash look
Taking the flash off the camera is the whole trick. At about 45 degrees and above head height, a bare speedlight on a sync cord carves a dark but readable shadow side and throws a crisp diagonal silhouette onto the wall. The 35 mm film camera sits slightly below face level at f/8 and 1/60 s on ISO 800 color negative. A dim bulb far down the corridor leaves a faint warm ghost.
Clothes, place and when to pick it
Two outfits come from haloshot here: women wear the studded leather jacket with sleeves pushed up over a boxy graphic tee, wide waxed-denim trousers and stacked-heel boots, while men wear it over a slimmer tee with slim waxed jeans. A studded belt with a chain and a waxed cap are shared. The cramped corridor suits band press shots or a gig poster with your face.
How it works
Add three photos of yourself: face, half turn and full length. haloshot renders a free five-frame preview of Load Out with your face. Pick the frames you like and keep them in 4:5 HD.
How to light a backstage portrait with off-camera flash
One small bare flash held high and to the side gives hard light, a readable shadow side and a crisp silhouette thrown on the nearest wall.
- Use a narrow club corridor or dressing room, overhead lights off, one dim warm bulb far behind.
- Have an assistant hold the bare flash, corded to the camera, 45 degrees to one side and above head height.
- Load ISO 800 color negative, fit a 35 mm lens, and set f/8 at 1/60 s from slightly below face level.
- Keep the subject near the wall opposite the flash, and meter for f/8 at each new spot.
Tape the sync cord down; in a dark corridor it is easy to trip over.
Set notes by Alex But, art director · Updated
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Shoot Load Out with your face
Three photos in, five free preview frames out. Keep the best ones in HD.