Have you ever tried to create a lovely portrait but not known how? It's not a hard thing to create a beautiful portrait. The secret is the lighting. You don't always need thousands of dollars in photographic lighting to create a beautiful portrait. In fact all you need is a window.
If window light were so good why doesn't everyone use it? Well, the answer to that is that they do not know how. Many enthusiast photographers don't work with the light properly. They simply do not know how.
So what is the secret to stunning portraiture? First of all, think about what type of portrait you are taking and why. Do you want people to see your grandfather as the sweet old man as you see him? Or would you prefer to show him as a hard-working man in love with the land and enjoying his horses? The first portrait would be considered a traditional personal portrait and the other might be considered an environmental portrait. The two are very different. An environmental portrait is a photo of someone within their environment. It tells the viewer about them as a person and what they do. In fact, showing what they do tells us about them as a person. A personal portrait shows someone in a gentle and positive light. Which are you going to do?
Once you have made a decision on what sort of portrait you want to create, then think about your lighting. First and foremost your lighting is the most important thing in your photography portraiture is no exception.
Changing the white balance to suit your portrait is essential if you want to create beautifully warm and fresh skin tones. It's easy to create unsuitable colour tone through a lack of understanding about white balance and how it affects your friends skin tone. In this case do a custom white balance before you shoot.
Soft light, or diffused light, is the light you see on a cloudy day. The light softens and the bright areas even out and don't leave many shadows. The intensity (brightness) of this light is fairly low. This kind of light is best for portraits. Diffused light is good for portraits because it reduces skin blemishes, evens out and softens skin tone and generally looks a lot nicer. Light also has a temperature. You'll see this in the form of colour. Have you ever noticed on some days the light looks a little bluer than other times? And have you ever noticed that at around dusk the light looks orange and yellow? This is commonly known as temperature, or hue. This phenomenon occurs because the sun shifting across the sky at different times will bring differences in colour temperature.
When you shoot portraits you can chose a variety of colour temperatures depending on the look and feel you are aiming for. If you want something upbeat and happy then you may chose a white colour temperature. This occurs with the sun being at the highest in the sky. If you want something soft and endearing you may choose to shoot when there are warm colours in the sky. Usually portraits look nice when the colour temperature is white.
The direction in which your light is coming from is very important. The direction of light will dictate whether you have shadows under the nose or not. This can make or break an image and you will feel pleased or disappointed with the results depending on where the shadows fall.
The direction of where your light is coming from will also dictate the outcome of your portrait. Shadows under the eyes and nose are due to the direction of light. This can create a hard looking portrait. If you are aiming for a gentle and soft emotion, then this type of light is not suitable. You may feel pleased or disappointed with the results depending on where the shadows fall.
Window light can help soften shadows and provide an "all over" direction. This depends on whether the window light comes from the person's top and side and not directly from above. If you have lots of light from above then try and find a large window. This will help throw light on the persons face evenly. Once light is spread evenly across someone's face you will have a greater chance of softening the emotion of the photo.
When shooting a portrait using window light its important to keep the emotive affects of that light clear in your mind. A soft light cast across someone's face can often create an endearing affect. This is ideal for weddings, young people and children. If you want to create something theatrical and moody, try a different direction and quality of light. However, for windows, you will find that creating an endearing affect is easier than you think.
Window light is great for portraits. Use a tripod with your shoot and get the right position before shooting. Before you shoot carefully examine the quality, contrast, temperature and direction of this light. If you work with light in this way you begin to look at all the very subtle aspects of your portrait. Once you begin this process you will begin to find the sheer enjoyment of portrait photography.
If window light were so good why doesn't everyone use it? Well, the answer to that is that they do not know how. Many enthusiast photographers don't work with the light properly. They simply do not know how.
So what is the secret to stunning portraiture? First of all, think about what type of portrait you are taking and why. Do you want people to see your grandfather as the sweet old man as you see him? Or would you prefer to show him as a hard-working man in love with the land and enjoying his horses? The first portrait would be considered a traditional personal portrait and the other might be considered an environmental portrait. The two are very different. An environmental portrait is a photo of someone within their environment. It tells the viewer about them as a person and what they do. In fact, showing what they do tells us about them as a person. A personal portrait shows someone in a gentle and positive light. Which are you going to do?
Once you have made a decision on what sort of portrait you want to create, then think about your lighting. First and foremost your lighting is the most important thing in your photography portraiture is no exception.
Changing the white balance to suit your portrait is essential if you want to create beautifully warm and fresh skin tones. It's easy to create unsuitable colour tone through a lack of understanding about white balance and how it affects your friends skin tone. In this case do a custom white balance before you shoot.
Soft light, or diffused light, is the light you see on a cloudy day. The light softens and the bright areas even out and don't leave many shadows. The intensity (brightness) of this light is fairly low. This kind of light is best for portraits. Diffused light is good for portraits because it reduces skin blemishes, evens out and softens skin tone and generally looks a lot nicer. Light also has a temperature. You'll see this in the form of colour. Have you ever noticed on some days the light looks a little bluer than other times? And have you ever noticed that at around dusk the light looks orange and yellow? This is commonly known as temperature, or hue. This phenomenon occurs because the sun shifting across the sky at different times will bring differences in colour temperature.
When you shoot portraits you can chose a variety of colour temperatures depending on the look and feel you are aiming for. If you want something upbeat and happy then you may chose a white colour temperature. This occurs with the sun being at the highest in the sky. If you want something soft and endearing you may choose to shoot when there are warm colours in the sky. Usually portraits look nice when the colour temperature is white.
The direction in which your light is coming from is very important. The direction of light will dictate whether you have shadows under the nose or not. This can make or break an image and you will feel pleased or disappointed with the results depending on where the shadows fall.
The direction of where your light is coming from will also dictate the outcome of your portrait. Shadows under the eyes and nose are due to the direction of light. This can create a hard looking portrait. If you are aiming for a gentle and soft emotion, then this type of light is not suitable. You may feel pleased or disappointed with the results depending on where the shadows fall.
Window light can help soften shadows and provide an "all over" direction. This depends on whether the window light comes from the person's top and side and not directly from above. If you have lots of light from above then try and find a large window. This will help throw light on the persons face evenly. Once light is spread evenly across someone's face you will have a greater chance of softening the emotion of the photo.
When shooting a portrait using window light its important to keep the emotive affects of that light clear in your mind. A soft light cast across someone's face can often create an endearing affect. This is ideal for weddings, young people and children. If you want to create something theatrical and moody, try a different direction and quality of light. However, for windows, you will find that creating an endearing affect is easier than you think.
Window light is great for portraits. Use a tripod with your shoot and get the right position before shooting. Before you shoot carefully examine the quality, contrast, temperature and direction of this light. If you work with light in this way you begin to look at all the very subtle aspects of your portrait. Once you begin this process you will begin to find the sheer enjoyment of portrait photography.
About the Author:
Amy Renfrey is the author of several photography ebooks and a monthly photography emagazine. She shows you how to take stunning photos every single time, even if you have never used a digital camera before. Click here to learn photography the easy way.
No comments:
Post a Comment