I just returned from spending the longest night of the year in one of the darkest, dampest places in Washington: the Quinault Rain Forest. Lisa and I spent a couple of days there last year, and discovered it to be a magical wonderland for photography.

When we returned this time, we brought a Speedlight and a 20″ Glow Hexapop, made by Adorama. This is a small and very portable soft box, so it was a small thing to pack it along. But we were really impressed with the results when we used it to backlight our subjects. Just as with underwater photography, subjects that otherwise look monochromatic in the eerie half light come to life with a little pop of strobe. Happy Solstice!