One of the first photographers I started following was Joe McNally. His Hot Shoe Diaries book is full of great info on how to make big light from small flashes, including a “creepy-guy-in-the-alley shot” that I recently enjoyed recreating.
This image was actually created well before dark. The camera exposure was simply lowered down to eliminate all sunlight. Two speedlights were used, one with a gel from a Honl filter kit to create the green background and axe murderer shadow, another inside a 24″ portable softbox to light up our damsel in distress. When I showed the resulting photo to some people who were passing by this busy downtown alley and asked “what’s up with the axe,” they were astonished that a camera and two small battery powered lights could produce something so completely different to what their eyes saw.
Special thanks to Tracy Wells (damsel in distress) and Jaylene Peterson (the one with the axe) for being open to some creative lighting concepts that afternoon. Still one of my favorite images ever created, my “ode to Joe McNally!”