Hi everyone, I' m Zhuoya—and today, let me take you behind the scenes of one of the most challenging, cinematic, and meaningful shoots I’ve done in a long time. It began with a bold idea: an angel knight fighting for light at the edge of a storm. When heavy rain threatened to cancel us, we embraced it and turned weather into part of the story.

Concept Shift – From Heroic to Heroic-in-the-Storm

Instead of fighting the rain, we embraced it. The new concept became:

"Creating cinematic portraits in extreme weather, using off‑camera flash."

Our goal was to make our model Amanda not just survive the storm—but command it.

Lighting Design

To bring this vision to life, I used two Godox flashes:

1. AD400 Pro + AR12 reflector (backlight): Positioned behind the model to act as a fake sun—backlighting wings and illuminating rain droplets so they glow like sparks.

2. AD200 Pro II + AR12 reflector (key light): Placed high and frontal to sculpt the face, armor, and wings, creating dimensionality lost in flat ambient light.

We set manual white balance around 9000 K to simulate warm storm light, like divine fire cutting through a cold world. Because I needed maximum flash power, I kept the shutter under 1/250 s and used narrower apertures (f/8–f/14).

Quick tip: Once you exceed your camera’s sync speed into HSS, flash power drops significantly because the light must pulse through a partial shutter curtain. In a shoot like this, you want every bit of light output you can get.

Visual Story Progression 

Each image was a chapter in the same epic:

"The Oath" — Our angel knight stands with both hands on her sword, framed by cliffs, backlit like a holy figure. A bird flies overhead like a messenger of destiny. 

"The Call to Arms" — Sword raised. Wind, rain, feathers, and power. The wings act as part of the light modifier—catching the backlight and flaring like banners. 

"The Archer’s Focus" — Bow drawn. Fire arrow ignited. You can feel the storm pause for breath.

"The Flag bearer" — Holding a red flag, looking toward the kingdom in the distance. 

This wasn’ t just a costume shoot—it became symbolic of hope, defiance, and leadership. 

"Battle on the Rocks" — She climbs over crashing waves, drenched but unshaken. The flag dances behind her like fire in the wind.

"Close-up Resolve" — A tight shot: helmet on, soaked face, fierce eyes. This is not a damsel in distress—this is a general. 

"The Fall" — One final shot: the knight lies still on the rocks, flag fallen with her. It’s quiet. It’s real. And it’s powerful. 

This final photo became one of the most emotional for me. Because sometimes, even warriors fall—but that doesn’t make their fight any less noble.

Closing Thoughts

This wasn’t just a shoot. It was an experience. A battle with weather, gear, timing—and the elements themselves. But it reminded me: great photography isn’t always about control. Sometimes, it’s about surrendering to the moment—and using everything at your disposal, especially light, to shape chaos into beauty.