how to get bright photos. HELP!!!

[laura7889]

hello i was hoping that someone could help me figure out what im doing wrong. im wanting my pictures to be more bright and vibrant like in so many other professional shots i see of family portraits and outdoor candids and what not. here is an example....the #1 shot is my shot. the #2 shot is brighter and more vibrant and closer to what im trying to achieve. please help me.any advice would be great. im a beginner photographer

#1



Please don't post images to which you do hold rights. You may post links.

 

[Village Idiot]

Number 2 has a background that's significantly brighter than yours. So much so that it's blown out in places.

Also, the mods will tell you, don't post other people's photos. It's bad photography etiquette.

 

[tirediron]

...Also, the mods will tell you, don't post other people's photos. It's bad photography etiquette.

They will too! Those mean ole' mods!

 

[tirediron]

There are some major exposure issues in your image. What was your lighting for this image?

 

[Derrel]

If you want light, bright, airy-looking photos of people, it is best to make sure the background is fairly light, and bright to begin with; a pastel- or earth-toned, light wall in a pale sand or pale ochre color, light tan, pale blue painted masonry wall, or a lake-side or ocean-backdrop kind of situation BEHIND the people, then fairly soft, diffused lighting on the faces and clothes of the people.

This can also be achieved in the morning or evenings, by putting people in an area of open shade, where light from the SKY hits their faces, and then you have the brighter sky areas behind their backs. You meter for their faces, and the lighter sky areas will become very bright when you process the pictures in software.

In an urban area, you can find this type of light at the end of an alleyway, between the two buildings! You stand in the alley in slight shade, and the people are right about where the sidewalk begins...there is enough shade to the light that if you come right up close to them, meter their faces, and set the exposure in Manual mode, and then step back, you can shoot and get a nice, bright shot of them, with a very light, bright background.

 

[laura7889]

here are some more of my photos. these were done a few months ago so ive learned more since then. but its all natural lighting so far till i get lighting equipment. seems like my issue is that if i have them facing the light they are squinted terribly but if they are away from the light their faces are too dark and when i try to change the settings to make their faces lighter then the background is all blown out. ugh please help. i learn kinda slow with some of this stuff but i know i'll get it

 

[laura7889]

Number 2 has a background that's significantly brighter than yours. So much so that it's blown out in places.

Also, the mods will tell you, don't post other people's photos. It's bad photography etiquette.

thank you for your feedback. where exactly are the exposure issues?

 

[480sparky]

Number 2 has a background that's significantly brighter than yours. So much so that it's blown out in places.

Also, the mods will tell you, don't post other people's photos. It's bad photography etiquette.

thank you for your feedback. where exactly are the exposure issues?

Parts of the image are pure white. They're not white in reality, they're just overexposed in the image so much they become pure white. When that happens, there's no details that can be recovered.

 

[tirediron]

Most beginning photographers think that working with flash is difficult, but it's actually much, much easier than working with ambient light only. The beauty of a flash, be it a studio monolight or a third-party speedlight is that you can CONTROL it. I've been doing this for years, and I still can't find the dimmer on Old Sol!

In the first image you posted the whites, as you noted above, are blown as a result of trying to equalize the exposure. If you'd had even a single speedlight and simple diffuser would have made a huge difference. A reflector might well have helped, but, without an assistant, using one can be a challenge.

 

[Village Idiot]

Oh, and the best natural light I find is on an overcast day. The light is nice and even and people tend to not be so squinty, yet you can control the exposure to get what you need. I know the brides don't care for it, but I love a nice overcast day for a wedding. I'll have to post some of my recent shots. I did one right after it rained and every photo I chose was perfect compared to a wedding I shot in bright sunlight where I had a lot of post work on my hands. The sun was shining at everyone's back during an outside ceremony and reeeeeeeally made for some difficult shooting.

 

[KmH]

All light, regardless it's source, is natural light.

By being keenly aware of light direction and light quality, and then using simple reflectors we can 'fill' those dark areas with some additional light.
Direction & Quality of Light: Your Key to Better Portrait Photography Anywhere
Off-Camera Flash: Techniques for Digital Photographers
On-Camera Flash: Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography
• Flash Photography Techniques - Tangents

A key advantage to using strobed light (flash) stems from the way a camera works.
We can control 2 exposures with a single shutter releases - the exposure of the ambient light and the exposure of the strobed light.
The ambient light exposure is mainly controlled with the shutter speed and ISO we select.
The strobed light exposure is mainly controlled by the flash unit power setting and the lens aperture we choose.
If we know the Guide Number of the flash unit we are using and the distance to the subject(s) we can calculate a good starting point for the flash power:
GN = distance × f-number

Professional portrait photographers create a lighting ratio and a lighting style such that the subject is brighter than the background. Doing so makes the subject 'pop' from the background.
The notion of 'pop' is from a 2000 year old visual art truism that states - "Light advances, dark recedes".

 

[Derrel]

All light, regardless it's source, is natural light.

Another utterly ridiculous assertion that is patently false. Light that is created by MAN-MADE, manufactured devices, has been referred to as "artificial light" for well over a century now.

Light that comes from a light bulb, a carbon-arc lamp system, or a flash tube, or an LED light, or from any other man-made, manufactured device, is commonly known as artificial light. Calling electronic flash "natural light" is flat out...stupid. Calling the light from a 100 LED array "natural light" is stupid.

We have a language. Might want to learn how to use it properly...

Natural light can NEVER be "bought" nor can it be sold.. Natural light can never be "switched to ON" by one's assistant. The source of natural light, the sun, can NEVER, EVER, EVER be put in a case and then shipped.

Artificial light units can be purchased, from a store or from a web site or from a catalog. Artificial light units can be stored in cases, and can be shipped around the world, or cross-country.

NO....not "all light is natural light". That's what is called horsesh**...which **is** a very hot, natural fertilizer.

Check out the numerous Kodak publications that deal with what Kodak has been calling artificial light since before World War I...Kodak + Artificial lighting - Google Search

 

[tirediron]

All light, regardless it's source, is natural light.

Another utterly ridiculous assertion that is patently false. Light that is created by MAN-MADE, manufactured devices, has been referred to as "artificial light" for well over a century now.

Light that comes from a light bulb, a carbon-arc lamp system, or a flash tube, or an LED light, or from any other man-made, manufactured device, is commonly known as artificial light. Calling electronic flash "natural light" is flat out...stupid. Calling the light from a 100 LED array "natural light" is stupid.

We have a language. Might want to learn how to use it properly...

Natural light can NEVER be "bought" nor can it be sold.. Natural light can never be "switched to ON" by one's assistant. The source of natural light, the sun, can NEVER, EVER, EVER be put in a case and then shipped.

Artificial light units can be purchased, from a store or from a web site or from a catalog. Artificial light units can be stored in cases, and can be shipped around the world, or cross-country.

NO....not "all light is natural light". That's what is called horsesh**...which **is** a very hot, natural fertilizer.

Check out the numerous Kodak publications that deal with what Kodak has been calling artificial light since before World War I...Kodak + Artificial lighting - Google Search

Ehhh... sorry Derrel, but Keith is right. Regardless of how it is referred to, light is light; a photon is a photon is a photon, and the photons from Old Sol behave exactly the same as those from a speedlight. Granted the source may be man-made, but the light is no different. The reason that I feel this is a very important point is because contnual reference to "artificial" and "natural" light helps perpetuate the mindset in beginning photographers that there's a difference in the actual light. How many times have you heard someone say, "Natural light looks so much nicer than flash?" You and I both know that a properly exposed picture, illuminated with strobed light will look every bit as nice (or nicer, because you can control it) as an image shot out of doors and illuminated only with ambient solar light.

I've taught a number of beginner OCF/speedlight workshops, and this is a point I stress every time, and many of the students have admitted to honestly believing that there was a difference in the actual physical properties of light from one source or another which had an effect on its appearance.

 

[Derrel]

Sorry, but Keith and you are dead-wriong, and are pushing a fool's errand. The hundreds of optical scientists at Kodak break light into natural light and artificial light.

It's hard to believe that both of you are pushing such a moronic and asinine line of bullsH*+_.

MANY artificial light sources have very odd spectral makeup, makeup that will not give proper colors with "daylight-balanced film--so there ARE indeed, spectral differences between types of light sources.

The fact is simple: natural light sources are natural, artificial light sources have been created by machines--this has been understood since the invention of photography; there is natural lighting, and there is artificial lighting.

Give it a rest with your semantic masturbation, okay? I get that it give you pleasure to repeat and repeat the saying in your head, but we all know there is natural light, and artificial light. Christ on a bike, I had you pegged as being smarter.

 

[astroNikon]

I was going to ask if there was a Kelvin variation of direct sunlight vs "high quality" Flash .. or if this was a discussion about how light is emitted/reflected.

I know it varies dependent upon Cloud cover, shade, etc. But I wasn't sure if "light" aspect of the discussion was related to the light color / white balance. We know artificial light bulb colors vary all over the place.

...Christ on a bike ...

Didn't know they had bikes back then. Hallelujah Harley ?