 Megan McKenzie |
natural light portrait photography I am just starting out and I am wanting to photograph infants and children. I am learning more and more evryday but I am still just an ameture. I am not very confident in my work but my family and friends seem to love them. Are they just trying to be nice. I have a 3 light little studio in my basement but now I am hearing more and more about natural light photography. I spent so much time trying to figure out my lights that I don't know the first thing about natural lighting. I do know that I have the perfect are for it though. My unused livingroom is 470sq feet vaulted ceiling and HUGE windows. What camera settings would you tipically use?, are your white backgrounds white?, are your black backgrounds really black?, do you have your subject facing the window or is the window to the side of them?, do you get shadows?, what equipment do I need?. What do you think makes a better picture for infants and children, natural lighting, or studio lighting? Sorry for so many questions but any help I can get I would really appreciate. I have asked a few questions on other posts and everyone has been so helpful and kind. Thank you, Megan
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Denyse Clark |
Well, first of all you are in a better position than you think in my opinion- most people on this site are begging to learn studio lighting & you already have that down! Natural lighting is fun, I do most of my work with it (due to lack of owning studio lights!). I think you are off to a good start by looking at your gallery. I'm learning too, and posing is something I'm working on now since it impacts the photo so much. Your pics just need some tweaking with that and you'll be in great shape!! (for instance, the baby shots w/ the wings are cute, but I miss seeing the babies face- also, when a baby is on its stomach, a black background makes it seem like its flying through space :) What camera/lenses are you using now? Are you shooting in manual modes? You shouldn't need any special equiment for working in natural light, execpt maybe a reflector to fill in some shadows. (I use white foam board from a craft store) How you pose the person in relation to the light depends on the effect you want. My favorites with window light have the subject angled in at about 45 degrees towards the window. I'll upload a couple of them here. I'm still trying to get backdrops myself, and everyone says black velvet works GREAT. No shadows!! Too expensive and not wide enough in my craft store, but I also read that a black Vellux blanket will work just the same. I was able to order one in King size through JC Pennys for about $40. I'm waiting for it to arrive. I'm also planning to get white. From what I've read, you avoid shadows by putting the subject FAR from the background, like 6-10 feet. Don't know from experience, just what I've read. I don't work with a lot of infants or children, but I've seen people do both studio lights and natural and often it's hard to tell how it was lit. I wouldn't worry so much about that, if you're getting good results in the studio, then stick with it and work on your poses. If you want to try some in natural light, I'd do just that- take some test shots & see how you like it. If you get shadows on one side, use the reflector to shine some light to that side. (you need someone to hold it unless you have something on a stand that you can turn/twist) This site is great, isn't it! So much helpful information. Happy shooting!
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