This year I was asked to shoot some portraits of the Paseo Club's Head Chef, JP Ruiz, for a Cancer fundraiser.  JP volunteered to host a cooking demonstration at the Relay For Life American Cancer Society event and the organizers wanted some images to use in their promotional pieces.

I scheduled the shoot as close to “golden hour” as I could as we were shooting outside on the club property.  I found an area with a pleasing background, one that would look nice when blurred out with a large lens aperture.  When JP showed for the shoot there was still some ugly direct light so my lovely assistant (and wife) Heidi, held up a diffusion panel to remove the harsh light. 

I wanted to add a little bit of fill, so I attached my Canon 580exII flash to a long ETTL cord and put it in a softbox on a light stand just to right of JP.  I think I dialed down the Flash Exposure Comp a little, and I may have added a ¼ CTO gel to the flash to warm it up a little bit.  JP loved the final shot as did the organizers.

I shot this at 50mm, f1.8, 1/200 sec, iso 100.

Here is JP at the event.