I recently read an article over at Digital Camera World. I thought the author really encapsulated the three principles necessary to get fantastic natural light shots.
I do a lot of family photo shoots out at the beach and I almost always follow the first principle and shoot late. Most of my sessions are sunset shoots.
01 Make it early or late
When shooting subjects with the sun behind them, it helps if the sun isn’t too high in the sky, so shoot in the mornings and evenings when the sun is lower (especially in autumn and winter).
At the day’s beginning or end sunlight becomes more diffused because of the angle of the earth’s atmosphere, so the light is softer.
02 Don’t use direct sunlight
Don’t position your subject so that direct sunlight falls on their face. Hard light from the sun creates too much contrast, with hard, deep shadows. It can also lead to squinting and unflattering expressions.If possible, look for the shade of a building or tree, or try changing position so that the sun is behind the subject instead.
03 Find a darker background
When the subject has their back to the sun it creates an attractive halo effect around their hair and body.But that light edge is only visible in our shot because there’s a dark object behind our subject.
To give you even more tips on natural light portraiture, we found a great video that will help you achieve the most flattering results.
GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR THE VIDEO
These tips were originally published at Digital Camera World
I “liked” this site simply because I thought it would offer good solid information about photography…well, it has become tiresome and troublesome. Instead of clicking on the link and getting right to the point of interest, you are bombarded with ads and nonsensical information which detracts from the site. The articles are too short, don’t contain any topical or useful information and are just a plain waste of time…so, goodbye.