BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: Informative Topics on Photographing People

Photography Question 

Christine S. Sines
 

Outdoor Portraits: How to Eliminate Shadows?


Can someone help me with eliminating shadows on a subject's face when taking a portrait outside? I have been taking some senior shots outside and, for example, if we are doing a "tree" shot, there are shadows of the sun shining through. What is a good way to stop this or at least calm them down a little?


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April 30, 2005

 

John Rhodes
  Time of day is critical. The "soft" golden light of early morning or the hour before dusk can cast the perfect light on your subject. There are several ways to use the available light - sidelighting can create desirable shadow effects, and backlighting (augmented with a little fill flash) can make dramatic effects.


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May 01, 2005

 

Maverick Creatives
  Hello, Christine.
As John previously mentioned, this is a good opportunity to use your flash to fill in the shadows on the faces. If your flash is not powerful enough to reach and illuminate your subjects, you can use reflectors. I use a 48" lastolite white, silver, or gold reflector; however, you can improvise using anything reflective. A sun reflector that you see in automobile front windows is a very good and inexpensive way to redirect sunlight onto faces. This may require an "assistant" to direct the light while you concentrate on focus.
Hope this helps, Christine.
Regards, Gary


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May 01, 2005

 

Andrew Laverghetta
  I think if you have to do it at the times when the sun is high, the best thing would probably be what Gary suggested. Use something reflective to bounce light back into the shadows. Also, move the person around if the face is mostly shadowed with only a few spots of light shining through. Try to keep them all in the shade and bounce light in from the full sun. I bought a large 20x30 piece of foam board from Michael's Arts and Crafts that I use to reflect light, and it works pretty good. Also, you can get something called artist's illustration board from a place like Office Depot to reflect light. Yes, though, you probably will need some kind of assistant.


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May 02, 2005

 

Christine S. Sines
  Thank you all for your tips, I will be sure to try these ideas and see if it helps


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May 02, 2005

 

Maria Melnyk
  Two more ways:
1) Use a translucent reflector that lets diffused sunlight through.
2) Have your subjects turn their backs to the sun and use fill-flash. They will be beautifully back-lit.

Reflectors work well, but if the light is strong from them it will hurt the subject's eyes.


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May 04, 2005

 

Bunny Snow
  I've always been taught that there are two types of outdoor lighting for portraiture:
The first is an overcast day when the sunlight is very diffused and the light is close to shadow less.

The second is more readily available, and that is open shade of a building or hill in which directional lighting would be created. This is the same beautiful soft lighting that occurs in the early morning or late evening just after sunset under the open sky.

On the other hand, the worse nightmare, I’ve found is trying to correct for the speckled light under a tree with sunlight filtering through the leaves and creating uneven light on a human face. That uneven light can show up as blotched lighting on the human body.

Despite doing outdoor portraiture for decades, I took classical portraiture in order to learn how to better light and pose subjects under both studio lights and outside in God’s natural surrounding, and one thing that was stressed over and over again was to NEVER allow direct sunlight to fall on the human face. If it’s high noon, and there is little open shade place the subject on a covered porch. Search out open shade with directional lighting, but make certain the subject is not in the sun.

If sun cannot be avoided, turn the subject so that their face is in full shadow and their hair is backlighted. Then, use the flash at 1.5 to 2 stops less than the metered background light for fill-in light and to create directional 45 degree lighting. The 45-degree lighting creates texture, which gives form and shape to the human body.

Watch out for placement against the background making certain that a light-haired person is against a dark background, and a dark-haired person against a light background. Also, watch for people who may not have enough hair, as the backlight can overemphasize the situation and make it worse.

I avoid speckled light coming through the leaves of a tree, which is a major headache.


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May 05, 2005

 

Maria Melnyk
  Speckled light coming through a tree does have one use: if placed properly on a person, it can add interest and really look professional and well thought-out. Try having it fall diagonally across a person's chest, but not on their face. Do this type of portrait from the waist up or higher, not full-length. Just play with it once and see what you come up with.


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May 05, 2005

 
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  woudn't say never. Sometimes you can't, sometimes you can.


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May 05, 2005

 
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