Real working gauchos in a scenic setting.
Background
In Chile, during our recent trip to South America, our guide suggested a barbecue with some of his gaucho friends. They also agreed to do a photo shoot in return for being able to use the images in their own publicity.
This particular father and son pair of gauchos, both called Victor, own and run a farm with about 3,000 sheep, a good number of horses and 40 dogs. Nonetheless, like the rest of Patagonia, a good percentage of their income comes from “tourism” and they are no strangers to being professionally photographed; including a controversial entry in the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards which depicted a farmhand dragging a dead horse’s leg as food for the dogs, shot on their farm.
Best Shots
We were promised a spectacular sunset, which didn’t materialise. However, I think the use of the Godox V1(s) off-camera flash provides some dramatic lighting. An opportunity for banter as I kept asking Fran to hold the flash higher and higher; should have brought a taller assistant!
Having never modelled for this type of shoot before, Victor was worried how the horse would react to a powerful flash. We asked Fran to press the test fire button, Victor and I both complained noisily as we were temporarily blinded; the horse didn’t flinch.
Post-Processing
One of the issues with using the flash was the unwanted illumination of foreground; this needed to be darkened in photoshop.
The flash also lit up any flying insects, so these needed to be removed. Other than that little editing was required.
Learning Points
The off-camera flash worked well in general but perhaps best when combined with some background lighting giving a sense of place.
To address the issue of blending the background and foreground, it might be helpful to take two shots in quick succession. The flash won’t have time to recharge and the second, darker, exposure can be selectively blended with the first to produce a more natural image.
The family had never seen similar images and were impressed by the dramatic nature of the shots.
Notes: