Question for you natural light photogs

[lunathea]

Hey all! I'm dragging my brothers out on Thursday to do some golden hour portrait shots with my 50mm prime. It will be my first time really attempting to do something other than candid shots of them and I want to use it as a teaching tool for myself on how to zoom with my feet and understanding outdoor light on people.

I want it to be all natural light and I was wondering if a reflector is a must for it?
Also my brothers are Filipino so is there anything I should know about how golden light may affect their skin tone (apologies if that is a dumb question)?
On top of that any tips, I've read through a bunch of the articles on here just wondering if anyone had anything else to throw in?

Thanks!

[Tito87]

A reflector is not a "must": a reflector is a tool. And like all other tools, you use it when you need it. Look at your subjects carefully, see what the light is doing on them. Then, you decide what you need to do. About the skin tone, remember that your lightmeter is giving you an exposure for middle gray (zoneV): so, you adjust accordingly.

[SusanH1970]

Agreed with Tito. I have a reflector - I use it quite often, but not always. If the light is just right and I don't need it, I don't. For backlit subjects, I always do, to put light on their faces and in their eyes.

As for skin tones - shoot in RAW and adjust WB if needed in post. Golden hour light may make skin tones too yellow.

[lunathea]

Thank you for the info guys. I was hoping you would respond Susan, the light in your photos is always so beautiful. I will go pick up some white foam core and recruit my mom as the holder for the day lol.

I have to bring some of these to class unedited, gulp but if I like any of them enough there will be post work for sure. Lol they're my brothers and I'm nervous, how lame. I think it's because I just don't want them to turn out completely trashy.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by lunathea

I was hoping you would respond Susan, the light in your photos is always so beautiful.

You are too sweet, thank you!

A few more tips:

Even at the golden hour, be sure no direct or dappled sunlight is hitting them in the face. Look for light in their eyes. Spot meter off their cheek for an accurate meter reading (if you're shooting in manual). I tend to ETTR and just watch for blinkies on my LCD, and check my histogram. Also watch for limb chops!

[lunathea]

I actually wanted to try ettr during this to see the effects of it in pp but due to the fact that I'm not allowed to edit them for school I'll have to wait. I think I'm going to do just a couple shots ettr and normal to play around with and compare the information difference. Did that make any sense? lol.

[Rentham]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

I tend to ETTR and just watch for blinkies on my LCD, and check my histogram. Also watch for limb chops!

This is good advice. For what its worth, however, I've found that the red channel blows out well before I get any highlight warnings on my LCD for portraits. This probably more of a concern with lighter skin tones though.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Rentham

This is good advice. For what its worth, however, I've found that the red channel blows out well before I get any highlight warnings on my LCD for portraits. This probably more of a concern with lighter skin tones though.

Yep, that damned red channel goes first every time! Fixable when shot in RAW, though. My daughter and son are both very fair-skinned and I'm constantly blowing the red channel to bits on their photos. Newborns, as well, since they naturally have a lot of redness in their skin.

[lunathea]

Should I use a gray card to meter off of? I'm basically worried about choosing the wrong wb and having them look orange. I've never actually used the gray card I have so that would also be a bit of learning.

The fact that I can't do any pp on the ones for school is what's freaking me out lol. I know if I mess up the white balance or something goes awry I can fix it in post.

I'm probably over-thinking all this and making it more complicated than it needs to be, thank you for the help guys I truly appreciate it.

[lunathea]

This was the first day I got my 50 just messing around with it. He was looking directly into a soon to be sunset and there was a hint of orange to his face that I managed to remove to my liking (at least on my screen) in photoshop. He still looks a tad yellow to me tho, and not quite as brown as he really is. Obviously they won't be facing into sun when I pose so that should help. I just keep seeing an oompaloompa shot of them in my head lol.