Shooting with Available Light - Lifestyle

Portraiture
by Guest Contributor
In this post Vronique da Silva from www.dasilvafoto.com shares more tips on how to take
portraits with available light.
One recurring question I often get asked is, Do you use flash?. My anser is I !refer not to. I
as trained co""ercially, using so"e of the best flash equi!"ent on the !lanet, and I kno ho
to use the". #ut I choose not to, for the "ost !art. $ife offers us so"e of the "ost beautiful
lighting and it is literally u! to us to ste! u! to the challenge of un!redictability, to seek it and to
use it !ro!erly. %s a natural light !hotogra!her, I do "ake use of reflectors and diffusers to !lay
ith the a&ailable light and teak it to "y liking.
I a" a !ortrait !hotogra!her, and I ha&e noticed that the a&erage !erson does not feel
co"fortable in a studio setting ith lights flashing at the". It beco"es o&erhel"ing and does
take o&er and interfere ith the i"age ca!ture. My general rule is if I can !hotogra!h the"
outside or in their ele"ent ith "ini"al additional lighting, I ill do so. 'he result ill
ine&itably be better.
Here are some tips for shooting with natural light!
(hen shooting outside in full daylight, "any !eo!le feel te"!ted to either use flash or !lace
their sub)ects in o!en shade. *es, it is true, o!en shade "akes for easy light, but the "ore
interesting light, the shados, the s!arkle, lies in the sun+ ,ush your co"fort le&el by ste!!ing
out of the shade, and shoot tons+ ,hotogra!h in full daylight, at all hours of the day. -hooting
"id.day ill be the "ost challenging, but be creati&e+ $ook for interesting shados and sha!es,
and !lay ith the". -to! and analy/e a scene before shooting and look for interesting &antage
!oints that enable the light to !lay its a"a/ing tricks.
(hen !hotogra!hing !eo!le in daylight, "y reco""endation is to begin by shooting
ith the sunlight in back of your sub)ects. Most !eo!le ill squint in full sun and0or blink
frequently. #y back lighting your sub)ects, you ill allo the" to be "ore co"fortable and in
return they "ost certainly ill be "ore coo!erati&e+
(hat ha!!ens ith blon.out skies? 'he anser to that is nothing+ 'here really is nothing
rong ith e1!osing for the sub)ect and letting the rest go here it goes. ,erfectly lit i"ages
2ith detail in the hites and shados3 ha&e their !lace, but I find it can be restricti&e and really
unnecessary hen !hotogra!hing !eo!le 2and trust "e, I $O45 the !erfect %nsel %da"s !rint+3.
(ith the use of reflectors, you can "ini"i/e the contrast and reclai" so"e detail in the
background. % sil&er reflector ill add a nice clean shar!ness to the i"age 2I really lo&e a sil&er
reflector hen shooting !rofessional head.shots3, but re"e"ber that it is a strong reflector and
you do not ant to blind your sub)ect+ I use a si"!le hite reflector "ost of the ti"e to slightly
o!en u! the shados but kee! the char" of back lighting. I also lo&e !laying ith sun flares+
'hey are co"!letely un!redictable but can be so lo&ely+ It goes ithout saying that to "ake the
"ost out of the use of reflectors you ill need e1tra hands 6 this is hen a hel!er co"es in &ery
handy+
(hen using flash, I !refer using it as a secondary light, letting the a"bient or surrounding light
!lay the "ain role. (hen shooting interiors, I ill bounce the flash off the ceiling or off "y
handy reflector, and create a softer light than shooting forard straight off the ca"era. It is also a
"uch "ore flattering light. I ty!ically under.e1!ose the flash 7.8.9 sto!s and slo don the
shutter to let the beautiful a"bient light filter in.
%s ith e&erything, !ractice is a "ust+ ,lay around, and don:t let inti"idation or the unknon
guide your decision 6 you:ll sur!rise yourself and definitely e1!and your skills+ Most
i"!ortantly, ha&e fun+
About the Author; 4<ronique da -il&a is a ,ortrait = $ifestyle ,hotogra!her.
4isit her site at .dasil&afoto.co".
>ead "ore fro" our ,ortrait ,hotogra!hy Category
>ead "ore; htt!;00digital.!hotogra!hy.school.co"0shooting.ith.a&ailable.light.lifestyle.
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