Practicing with natural light. C&C

[TrolleySwag]

I'm pretty new to all this, about 2 months, 2 weeks trying to improve. This is my daughter and some impromptu shots I thought might turn out good.

6d & 50mm 1.8
Forgot the other settings. And can't find the other pics on my phone.

1

2

3

 

[TrolleySwag]

Next on my list of toys is a 5in1 reflector kit. The cheep neewer on amazon any good?

 

[ronlane]

The second two are nice. I like the b&w conversion. The last one may be a little underexposed but not too bad for me.

The first one has some issues with blown out spots and the dappled light on her face.

 

[TrolleySwag]

3 seems underexposed probably because that's how I remembered it in my room, it was dark. Also I'm not were I want to be with the editing and when I went to lighten it it didn't real look right to me, I think I may have over processed it. And just a click of the B&W made it look good.

I try for brighter shots but darker seems to look better, any tips or YouTube vids to help?

Thanks.

 

[TrolleySwag]

1 was the day I started to play with natural light, I did my best on the bright spots with ACDSEE Pro.

Any way to have the light spots but not as harsh?

 

[Derrel]

1 was the day I started to play with natural light, I did my best on the bright spots with ACDSEE Pro.

Any way to have the light spots but not as harsh?

Yes, there is a way: the shadowed areas need to be "lifted up" closer in exposure value to the highlighted areas. The easiest way to do that is a very large white bedsheet type reflector, which will lighten up the shadows, so that the exposure is closer to the exposure for the bright, dappled light spots. This looks pleasing, and natural, and is easy to preview. The second way is adding flash fill-in, which is a little trickier, but not much, at least when working in dimmer lighting conditions, and with high-grade flash units.

In short, reflector fill light is one of **the** oldest, best ways, and a professional "secret" used in many,many catalog and fashion shoots.

 

[TrolleySwag]

Thanks.

 

[Designer]

Shooting a portrait in dappled light seems like the hard way, but if you're bound to do that, then try to make the light areas not so much brighter than the shade areas. They'll still show up, just not as stark. And yes, there is a tool for that. You can make your own scrim out of a light-weight frame and some black or neutral gray gauzy fabric.

Shot #2 the light is coming from low, which may not turn out to be the best angle, but it is what it is. The model has picked up some different-colored light coming from some colored object in front of her. That might be why you prefer the B&W version over the color. I think it is better to have your reflectors just white.

 

[manaheim]

Those last two look kind of dead/flat. Yes, you can cheat it a bit, but at the end of the day, no highlights in the eyes... and that alone will kill most any shot. As others said, reflector for the win. Or, frankly, use a flash. I know that's not the point of the exercise and I get that, but flash in outdoor photography is surprisingly useful and can have some great effects.

I swear this girl needs to model.

 

[TrolleySwag]

We're those on camera flash or off camera?

 

[beagle100]

Next on my list of toys is a 5in1 reflector kit. The cheep neewer on amazon any good?

yes, get a 5 in 1 reflector kit off ebay - $10 - $15

 

[The_Traveler]

Pretty good.
She looks as if she is leaning back, there seems to be a lot of unneeded space and a bit dark and dull.

the conversion is OK.
I like a tiny bit of sepia to take the curse off of straight BW for soft subjects.

 

[manaheim]

We're those on camera flash or off camera?

Off camera, but I've also done some on-cam with similar results, just a little harder to get the images to look like you didn't use the flash when you did.

I spent a lot of time saying a that I was a natural light photographer, mainly because the flash was a whole pandors'a box that I didn't want to deal with. Then I spent some time with the flash and I realized that in many cases I needed the flash outside MORE than I did when I was inside.

Sunlight is great and wonderful and you can do some awesome things with it. But it is VERY strong and it can be a dominant force in your images and take a lot of the control out of your hands. The key with it is to truly understand it (which you'll get by continuing your experiments), and then understand when you can use it, and when you need something to yank a little control back.