Natural light photographers

[Amanda0102]

Would love to hear your ramblings/tips. Specifically, anything involving natural light and shooting indoors.

TIA!

[RecurrentNerve]

Hmmm.

Get a large-aperture lens which will allow you to shoot without a flash in relatively low light conditions. Try not to shoot people directly in front of a window, take the shot with the window to one side and the subject standing about 2 feet from it. Look both ways before crossing the road.

One of those may not be pertinent.

[SusanH1970]

For indoors, indirect light from a window or sliding glass doors is great. Sometimes a reflector is your best friend.

Here are a couple of diagrams to show how I position my subjects/backdrops in relation to the window:





Hope this helps.

ETA: Agreed that a fast lens is optimum for indoors. I almost exclusively use my 50mm f/1.8 lens for indoor natural light work.

[RecurrentNerve]

You just had to get all fancy with your diagrams, didn't ya? I was doing fine with my old-fashioned text, but nooooooo

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by RecurrentNerve

You just had to get all fancy with your diagrams, didn't ya? I was doing fine with my old-fashioned text, but nooooooo

LOL! Hey, I had them on my Flickr, why let them go to waste.

[Amanda0102]

HAHAHA this is great.

Susan - how do you position reflectors? Forgive ignorance, but are there stands for them or do you just have someone stand and hold them up?

I've been using my 35mm f 1.8 for these setups - wide open (and then have focus issues, but that's another story). Then had a 1-on-1 with a studio portrait photographer last week who told me that "nobody" uses the widest aperature on their cameras and suggested I stop down. I thought this was confusing - I'm right, right? I mean, it goes to f 1.8 for a reason...

[SusanH1970]

Amanda, I don't have a stand. I usually just lean it up against something. In a pinch I've been known to clamp it to a lightstand or tripod, too. I don't always use a reflector; it depends on how the light is hitting the subject and also whether I want flat lighting or more dimensional lighting. If I know I'm going to be doing black and whites, I don't use it (flat lighting makes for icky conversions). When I do use it, I just move it till I see the light hitting my subject the way I want it to.

As for anyone who says pros never shoot wide open, that's a load of BS, lol. I shoot wide open all the time, as do many, many pro photographers I know of. It's not appropriate for every shot, but I love shooting wide open. Here are just a few examples of photos I've taken at f/1.8.

6web | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

1bwweb | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

IMG_8272web | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

However, when I'm using my studio equipment, I don't shoot wide open at all; generally around f/5.6 - f/8.0.

[Amanda0102]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

Here are just a few examples of photos I've taken at f/1.8.

6web | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

1bwweb | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

IMG_8272web | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

These are beautiful. How do you get such good focus with such a wide aperature?

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Amanda0102

These are beautiful. How do you get such good focus with such a wide aperature?

Thanks! Lots and lots of practice and studying the Depth of Field Calculator. It helps to learn to toggle your focus points, too. Sometimes I focus and recompose but it's hit or miss when shooting wide open; toggling will give you more accurate focus.

[Tamster]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

Thanks! Lots and lots of practice and studying the Depth of Field Calculator. It helps to learn to toggle your focus points, too. Sometimes I focus and recompose but it's hit or miss when shooting wide open; toggling will give you more accurate focus.

Hey Susan! Thanks for all the feed back on this post. It is helping me out as well! I can't see the images from flicker as i'm blocked but i did see some of your pics you postedlast night on facebook! Once again, I love your work! You're def an inspiration to keep me plugging away and learning!

Good luck to you Amanda!