I was waiting for a group of cyclists to start their SpokeFest ride on Sunday. The sunlight was  high in the sky and  pretty harsh. I decided to grab my Profoto B1 with Magnum reflector out of my car and set it up on the sidewalk on camera left. I was not sure what the effect would be.

The Profoto Magnum reflector added about two stops of light, which is perfect for over powering the bright sunlight. I dialed down the ambient exposure by a stop and a half and set the B1 on manual and at full power. After a few test shots in high-speed sync (1/1250 of second), I just blasted away as the riders came forward. I tried to pace my shutter clicks to the 2-second recycle time of the strobe.

When I downloaded the files, I was surprised at how great the color was. The light was subtle, with the faces of the riders nicely side lit. The sky, which would have been washed out without the strobe, was blue and saturated. A much better look than if I had just shot it with natural  light.

Takeaways: I like to use strobes in situations other than just portraits. Wireless strobes make it easy to put lights in places where cords would just get in the way.

Settings: Nikon D5 70-200 2.8 (at 125mm) f/14; ISO 80 at 1/1250 a second shutter