One of the most beautiful, natural forms of illumination has to be window light. The warm rays of summer gently filtered through window glass or the cool light reflected off winter’s snow all create the ethereal glow that’s soft enough for portraits. The examples shown here are but a few of the myriad of possibilities.
When the weather is nice outdoors, nothing beats an informal portrait. You do not want to shoot in the direct sunlight because your subject will be squinting. However, if you can find a shady spot under a tree, both you and your subject will be much happier.
So, how can you take the best portrait outdoors and still compete with the sun? The answer is usually right on top of your...
When fighting with the sun, your flash might not be powerful enough to fill in the deep shadows created by that large key light in the sky. Luckily, we have help in the form of reflectors which send almost all of the reflected light onto the subject. I will be referring to two types of reflectors here: the Flexfill (and its variations) and reflective (silver-sided) foam core.
Lighting portrait subjects with different hair and skin color can be a challenge, especially when you are using a dark background. With a little time spent adjusting the color temperature and placement of your lights, you won’t have to rely on color correcting the images later. No lighting challenge is too extreme if you break it down into a few simple steps. Do you want hair lighter or darker; do you want to complement or contrast the skin tone; and what is the overall “look” you desire—warm or cold? By answering these questions, you will be able to determine which color temperature of light you need to create the mood for the image. Again, don’t just set the camera on auto white balance. Set your daylight or tungsten balance lights accordingly and manually adjust the camera’s color temperature—you’ll be glad you did.
Backlight is light that comes from behind the subject, whether it’s an artificial source or the sun. In the following examples, I decided to use the sun as my only light source, placed behind the subjects and guided by reflectors both natural and man-made.