Last week I went on a river trip down the Colorado River through Ruby Horsthief canyons. The trip was a farewell trip for some good friends that are moving away from our community to Texas. On the evening of our last day I made everyone on the trip pose for a riverside portrait. The gallery below is the result.

How I Made the Images

By waiting for the evening to make these photographs I gained several advantages. Cocktails were flowing, so I had much more willing subjects. Next, the low angle of the evening light beautifully light the sandstone walls of the canyon down river while putting our area of the river into open shade. This open shade gives me great control over the lighting of my models by using a strobe.

By using a SB800 strobe with a shoot-through umbrella to light the subjects at full exposure I get a proper exposure on the models. I placed the light above and camera right to mimic the position of the sun as it is seen on the canyon walls behind. The one stop underexposed ambient light saturates the sunlit canyon walls behind and appears as the shadow areas on the models. This creates depth and dimension to the models with a striking background.