 Kristina M. Covey |
Best Time of Day to Shoot I am shooting photos of my sister who is very pregnant... she would like some indoor and outdoor shots. With the limits of time, how do I acheive that dreamy natural light effect? I have a soft focus filter (among others), and a Canon Elan IIe, I have a 19-35mm, 28-90mm, and 70-300mm. What type of film should I use for enlargements, color and black and white? What time of day is best?
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
As a matter of fact I'm doing some pregnancy shots myself tomorrow. Mine are all outdoor using only natural light. I am going to start around 6pm and use an 85mm lens and a 70-200mm lens with Portra 160NC film. For b&w's I will either use Portra 400BW or Tri-x. I'm starting around six so I can catch some nice afternoon light (the spot I'm shooting in is by a river with some high hills to the west so we will be mostly in shade). We may move to higher ground later to catch some sunset light. Of your lenses I would say the 19-35 will have limited use but you could have some fun shots with it. The 28-90 could be useful and the 70-300 will be a good one. My last bit of advice: use a tripod.
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Kristina M. Covey |
Thanks Jeff for your quick response- Could you offer some advice on metering the scenes? I plan to do indoor shots in front of a sunlit white-curtained window (hopefully getting some backlit images) - how do I best meter that? Also on the beach at approx 6pm-ish, how to best meter in open sun... fyi, I will be using my camera's internal meter.
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
Well the first rule of metering is deciding what about the scene is important to you and then metering for that. In a portrait the important feature is usually the face so meter for that. If you are shooting a caucasian person meter her face and open up a stop (white skin is 1 stop brighter than 18% gray). As for the beach, as with any light try to find even light if possible. Avoid hot spots. Also it depends upon which coast you are on. If you are lucky enough to live on the west coast (like me) you can get some good shots closer to sunset with the sun setting behind your model. The best way to capture these is to meter for the background and flash your subject to balance with it. You might try experimenting with that. On the east coast you should get nice sunset light as your main light with the ocean behind your subject. Beyond that I would use reflectors to keep the light even and to add catchlights to the eyes. I hope this is helpful.
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