In a showdown for the ages, renowned photographers & MagMod ambassadors, Pye Jirsa and Marlies Hartmann, engaged in an epic flash photography shoot-off on the beach in Malibu, California.
The battle involved a series of three challenges in which each photographer had to create three couples portraits: one using dramatic flash, one using natural-looking flash, and one using flash to transform the scene. To sweeten the deal, the winner took home a $500 gift certificate to the MagMod Store!
Let's get into it.
Here’s an overview of the gear used in this flash photography shoot-off:
To keep it balanced each photographer agreed to assist the other and stick to a time-limit of ten minutes. If time allowed, the photographers could create more than one image for each challenge. Also, trash talking was permitted.
As you’ll see in the results below, each of the challenges showcases how flash can be used to enhance imagery in a variety of ways, regardless of the location and ambient lighting condition.
To open it up, Marlies shot first and set the tone for the dramatic flash challenge.
Marlies opted to place the couple in a sitting pose on some nearby rocks with the sun behind the couple and the ocean in the background. She modified the light with a MagBox Pro 24” and positioned it off to camera-right, about 5-7’ from the couple, at a slightly elevated, 45-degree angle.
Here’s a look at Marlies’ final image from the first flash photography shoot-off challenge.
Pye followed Marlies and took a slightly different path to capture his dramatic flash photography shoot-off image. Instead of using the MagBox Pro, Pye selected the Reflector XL in an effort to “pound” his couple with light.
For this shot, Pye used the rocks and water on the shore as a foreground element to add visual interest to the shot and help frame the couple. The Reflector XL (with the Profoto B10+) also allowed Pye to overpower the sun and produce a dramatic flash shot with plenty of color.
With the goal of using flash in a way that makes it look completely natural, Pye kicked off the second challenge with the MagBox Pro 24”.
The softer light from the MagBox combined with a balance of ambient light and flash power allowed Pye to create a more romantic vibe for this portrait.
A shift in the exposure settings also features a shallower depth of field, which further amplifies the softer look of the shot. The lighting setup is similar to Marlie’s first shot, but because of the variations mentioned above, the results are different.
Marlies also opted to use the MagBox Pro for this second challenge shot because, as she notes in the video above, “It’s going to give us the most natural looking flash.”
Again, the trick for creating natural-looking light with flash is to dial in the balance between the flash and ambient exposure. The lighting setup for this shot is similar to the others, further illustrating the point that you don’t have to change much to produce dramatically different results.
After determining that it’s a little more challenging to shoot first, Pye and Marlies decided on who would go first with a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. They couldn’t agree on the rules, however, and Pye volunteered to start off the third round.
For this challenge, Pye brought out the CTO DomeGel to give himself creative control of the color of the scene, which is important considering that this is an “extraordinary” challenge.
The setup is similar to previous shots in terms of positioning, although it was from a greater distance this time around.
In this particular shot, Pye was careful to pose the male subject on the right so that the light from behind wouldn’t cast a shadow on the female subject on the left. To do this, Pye simply asked the subject on the right to open up his pose and rotate his chest slightly towards the camera.
Because he had a little time left over, Pye set up a second shot for the final challenge, this time shooting from a closer distance.
Once hoisted up and pointed down and towards the couple, the DomeGel is putting in a lot of the work to transform the look of the scene.
Marlies chose a backlighting flash photography technique for what ended up being the first of her two final images for the extraordinary transformation challenge. While Pye expressed a bit of skepticism about the technique working in such bright daylight, especially without the use of an ND filter, Marlies made it happen. Here’s how.
For the lightsource, Marlies placed a MagSphere XL with a Full CTO MagGel behind the couple, just above waist-high, and aimed it directly at a large rock in the background.
With a dim ambient exposure and a full power flash, Marlies was able to capture the shot.
Because she had enough time for a second shot, Marlies took advantage and created what she calls a “Funset” portrait, or fake sunset shot.
While there was no shortage of real sunset on this occasion, Marlies still used flash photography to transform the scene and give the ambient exposure a golden hour boost.
According to Marlies, “The key to a good fun set is compression.” Following this line of thought, Marlies used a 135mm lens to compress the scene and she used some nearby trees as a natural flag to help create a flare from the flash.
Whatever you use, you’ll need a powerful light source to convincingly pull off this effect. Marlies opted to use a MagSphere on the Profoto B10+, as well as a Full CTO Gel in this effort to replicate the sun.
Here’s the final “Funset” shot.
We hope you found this shoot-off useful for the tips and techniques it offered in terms of how to use flash photography for different effects. Who do you think conquered the flash photography shoot-off and deserves the $500 prize? Jump into the Facebook group for the #MagMod Community to vote (you can find the post here), or if it’s too late, to see who won.
© 2026 MagMod
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