Christian In Natural Light

[smoke665]

Our youngest grandson spent a long weekend with us. Despite the heat we managed to get out a little for some ambient light shots.

August 202220220807_5645.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

August 202220220807_5655.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

 

[CherylL]

Handsome! How old? I like the 2nd one better with more light in his eyes and the bigger smile.

 

[smoke665]

Handsome! How old? I like the 2nd one better with more light in his eyes and the bigger smile.

He just turned 6, the youngest of the "littles".

Light was an issue that day. Wrong time of day, and not prepared. Forgot my silver reflector

 

[Warfarin]

Grandkids are the greatest

 

[Jeff15]

Very good shots.....

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

I agree with Cheryl…#2 shows his natural smile, and it’s a winner!

 

[enezdez]

I love the 2nd image his smile is contagious, he looks really happy, very heart warming!!!

 

[slat]

Nice shots.

 

[adamhiram]

Number 2 for me, the light in the eyes and that smile. It's been a while, glad to see some new photos!

 

[smoke665]

I agree with Cheryl…#2 shows his natural smile, and it’s a winner!

I love the 2nd image his smile is contagious, he looks really happy, very heart warming!!!

Number 2 for me, the light in the eyes and that smile. It's been a while, glad to see some new photos!

Thanks all, he can turn on the charm when he wants to.

Adam, It's been awhile since I picked up a camera. To many other projects pulling at me the last few months. Fortunately most of those are finally coming to an end.

 

[jeffashman]

Wonderful shots, but #2 especially! That smile just beams!

 

[mrca]

He just turned 6, the youngest of the "littles".

Light was an issue that day. Wrong time of day, and not prepared. Forgot my silver reflector

Try a gold reflector on dark skin. It contributes a complimentary highlight to the skin. A black photographer asked me to do a shoot with some of his friends. I handed him a gold reflector and told him to watch what it did. When he aimed it at the girls face, his reaction was priceless. And we tend to think of placing a light to cast shadows to reveal shape and form. On really dark skin, a huge soft light reveals shape and form with highlight, shadow is lost on the darker skin. Think 7' octa or shoot through a 6' scrim both in close. The highlights on his face really bring this shot alive. Yes, the expression is better in the second shot, but it is way tighter and it makes the face more of the subject. I wonder if cropping into the hair and just below the shirt collar would give even more impact to the face. I'm a big advocate of solid color long sleeve shirts. The bright colors can distract with the real subject of the shot, his face. I shoot lots of b&w because I tell folks, in color, we are photoing you clothes, in b&w we are capturing our soul. The oof bg has a color that works well with subject and separates his dark skin/hair from the bg for depth. I would consider vignetting in from all sides, especially R side and onto shirt. A reflector would add just a tad larger catch light in the eyes. Main looks high front but you managed to get light in both eye sockets. I think his mother should love this image.

 

[smoke665]

Try a gold reflector on dark skin. It contributes a complimentary highlight to the skin.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. He is the youngest of four siblings, each having slightly different skin coloring and texture, ranging from a beautiful dark caramel to a deep dark ebony in his case. These were taken in the wilds of a mini golf course, so no equipment other than the camera. It did give me ample opportunity to observe how different light affected the highlights and shadows. The dark ebony sucks up light with less reflection on the highlights and the shadows are like dark holes they suck up light and don't give it back.

I whole heartedly agree on the large soft light. These were shot in large shady sections with just enough directional light to pop highlights in the eyes. In studio a 7' brolly with diffusion up really close is my go to. The top layer of skin (epidermis) is mostly translucent, the 2nd layer (dermis) holds Melanin (the more fair the skin the less Melanin). In white or fair skin the coloring comes mostly from the bluish-white connective tissue under the dermis and by the hemoglobin circulating in the veins of the dermis. Soft light tends to penetrate the epidermis and light up the underlying colors, without specular highlights on the surface. I've used both gold and silver reflectors, but you have to be cognizant of the actual skin color, so as to not impart an unrealistic tint to the skin. In his case white or silver does better at maintaining the ebony black. Then you have to deal with actual variances in the skin. In this one of the granddaughters, I used a combination of lights and reflectors, to even out skin tones.

 

[mrca]

Smoke, thanks for the info on skin, I learned something. Yes, using a gold reflector adds a color cast, but for my taste, it looks great. But you are absolutely right, silver or white is more neutral. A zebra, silver/gold stripped falls in between. I actually use it on the white birds in my back yard and the color cast is minimal but I get the power of 2 metallics rather than white which isn't strong enough at the distances the egrets and wood storks maintain. I also have tried plexi mirrors on them but it tends to be to strong and hard. Outdoors, I usually bang it through a diffuser in close. In your second shot with one with dark and the other light skinned, the inverse square rule is your friend. I would put the main on the side of the darker skin and as intensity falls off, the light skin doesn't blow out. Same principle with grooms in black tux and bride in white gown. This is a powerful shot and captures the joyful and uninhibited personality. It has meaning to even a casual viewer and probably lots of meaning to the family. Great job.

 

[smoke665]

@mrca seems we think alike. The 7' brolly was on the left, 42" gridded octabox on right feathered, a large white reflector right, and on floor front.

Working with different skin tones is relatively new for me, as we became instant grandparents when our son & DIL adopted the sibling group they had been fostering. Whether true or not all my research on photography of African Americans indicates they tend to be picky about their unique coloring, preferring true to life. Vogue got slammed not long ago for Annie Leibovitz's cover shot of Simone Biles. The skin tones were not true to life.