Ian Hylands

Super stoked to be able to get out one evening in Boise and shoot these images of my friend Grace for DEITY Components.

As with all the shoots I've done lately, I brought a bunch of lights and modifiers to this shoot, but never ended up using them. Instead I simply used the natural evening light, pointing my camera into the setting sun and playing with flare and glow. I love doing this whenever I can, especially when I'm shooting people. Not having to deal with strobes allows me to focus more on the person I'm working with, instead of thinking about technical stuff. I just let "la luz de Jesus" do it's thing and focus on the other details like expression and body position and composition.

This may come as a surprise to some of you, as I'm generally known as someone who is good with artificial light. I don't struggle with setting up and adjusting lighting equipment to get the look I want, but it does take time and tends to take my attention away from my relationship with the person I'm shooting with.

In the studio it's different, I'm usually working with inanimate objects, and I have all the time in the world. I can move slowly and check and adjust my composition and my lighting until I'm happy with it. I can take a photo and examine it, and think about what I want to change and then take the time to change it.