Get the Right Light

[shanka]

It’s been raining a lot here in San Francisco, and the fact that we need the moisture offsets only so much grey-sky depression. However, in addition to being annoying, persistent cloud cover is also a good reminder that, when it comes to lighting people, less is often more.

If you’re shooting portraits, lighting has more of an impact on your final result than anything else. Yes, it’s important to get subtle skin tones the right color, and sure, you might want to consider whether you want more or less depth of field, but it’s lighting that will do the most to make a person look more pleasing.

Of course, you can buy expensive lighting rigs or multiple flash units and concoct carefully constructed three-point lighting schemes. Using studio lighting (or multiple handheld strobes) definitely gives you the greatest control and flexibility. Or you can save yourself a lot of money and use available light.

The sun is a very good source of illumination for portrait shoots (as well as for agriculture and the general survival of life on the planet). What’s more, it’s a type of light that our visual system is attuned to. The only real problem with it as a portrait lighting source is that there’s too much of it.

Shot in direct sunlight, this image suffers from deep shadows and harsh highlights. Her eyes are lost in shadow, and every contour of her face casts a shadow. |

[nathanbarlow]

um, sorry to be a bit harsh - but I dont quite understand what you are saying here. I seem to get "the sun is good/free/etc but harsh"

For those who were wondering, this is where you can make good use of reflectors to 'even' out the shadowing and the harshness.

One way is to get the subject to stand somewhere which isnt too harsh, such as a shaded area, and then reflect sunlight onto the face/body.

Silver reflectors are good for reflecting lots of light, gold are good for creating a softer light with a glow. You can also use black ones to 'absorb' light, and sheer ones to diffuse light - but these are harder to use, and usually used as a second reflector, rather than as the primary one.

In the example photo posted above, it might have been good to have a silver reflector coming from the right (her left) to even out the shadows. Personally, I would have moved to a different place, with less harsh light. Alternatively, you could stay there and "underexpose" (in the loosest meaning of the word) with reflectors bouncing light onto the face from both or one side. This wouldnt produce an underexposed subject, on the background (which is good sometimes).

This is why sometimes you see "pro's" out in the glorious bright sunshine, with a massive flash unit - to provide 'fill-in' light and then lower the speed/iso/aperture for a softer light.

Hope the OP doesnt mind me adding this, afterall the forum is for everyone to collaborate and learn/teach from

[g_tynan1]

Shanka

Any chance you could show us how to overcome the issues you discuss ? Perhaps post another image as an example of how you deal with the harsh shadows and high contrast of sunlight ?

[Bankerbyday]

Thank you. Being very new to this, I understand that natural (sun) light is the best form of light, but that it often comes with its own challenges (dealing with harsh shadows.) Thanks for the tip on reflectors. Very useful to me.