You're at an outdoor shoot with a sudden location change. How do you adapt your lighting setup?

Quickly evaluate the available natural light and adjust your gear accordingly. Use reflectors or diffusers to control harsh shadows, or reposition your subjects to make the best of the new light source. If needed, tweak camera settings like ISO and aperture for optimal exposure. Staying adaptable is the key to keeping the shoot on track.

If you are already prepared for an outdoor shoot and the location changes. I don't think much would have to change. Always look for the direction of the sun. Pack light reflectors, and suitable fill lights. It might take a few minutes to scout the new location for natural over hanging structures and interesting trees, etc. Finally, your approach to the new situation should be the same!

Assess the New Environment: Quickly evaluate the lighting conditions in the new location. Look at the direction and quality of natural light, and note any shadows, reflections, or diffused light sources.

Examina el entorno para identificar cualquier factor que pueda afectar la iluminación, como la presencia de edificios, árboles, o estructuras que bloqueen o reflejen la luz. Esto te ayudará a ajustar tu configuración para aprovechar al máximo las condiciones actuales.

Know your gear. Know how your gear works in different environments. Know the capabilities and limitations of your gear. Know how to adapt your gear for the situations you might be in. But make sure you know all this before the shoot. Finessing settings or trying a couple variations is one thing. Standing there trying to learn or figure out what you can and can't do with the client and/or a team standing there is another. The time to learn is before you need to, so practice, practice, practice. You don't have to own every piece of kit for every possible situation, but knowing where you can push what you have, and what you just can't do is vital. And it's vital to know going into a shoot, not figuring out at a shoot.

I face this situation often as most of my sessions are outdoors with pets. I bring strobe lights outdoors to get the best possible results. So, what happens when the lighting conditions are constantly changing? I normally use manual settings on my strobe lights, but when conditions are constantly changing, I will switch from manual settings to TTL. TTL is an automatic setting that adjusts the power of the lights based on current conditions. You should take a couple of test photos to see if you need to make exposure compensation adjustments, and then resume the session. Like any automatic setting, it isn't perfect, but it's necessary in this situation.

I think a change of location can be a good thing if you embrace it. I quite like outdoor photography, and shooting under natural light, of course it can be challenging, and it depends on the weather. But even winter has its on unique beauty, so keep an eye open the ideal condition will present itself.

Adapt Your Composition: Sometimes the new location might offer different backgrounds or angles. Use this opportunity to adjust your composition and take advantage of the new surroundings.

From the beginning of the shoot you should be communicating to the subject or team that the varying lighting conditions of an outdoor shoot are sudden & sporadic. Making sure your subject is still comfortable in their pose through open communication should be a high priority. Pro Tip: check their eyes to see if the new lighting has caused them to squint ??!

Keep It Flexible: Stay adaptable and open to improvising with whatever tools you have on hand. Outdoor shoots often require quick thinking and creative solutions.