Dale and Dior pose for the camera under ambient light
Make it extreme! I looked at the back lighting effect in this situation and simple made my exposure compensation very negative!
I have said this so many times, but I will repeat it again. To take pictures of friends that are willing to let you go crazy is so much fun.
This past week, our friends in San Francisco, Dale and Dior, let me take a few portraits of them. We had fun! Below is the prove.
The nice thing about this photo shoot is that I did not use a single flash or any other kind of manipulated light. We basically walked around their beautiful new home and the beach and I used the camera to capture the ambient light in a way that worked for the portraits.
This is a reminder that knowing your equipment and understanding how it captures light is the key to take good photos, no matter what the conditions are. If light is there, then you can take a photo, and sometimes is just a matter of playing with your exposure compensation as you explore around your subject. Exploration! remember that! you are an adventurer that finds light and uses it to your advantage!
Enjoy the photos! and let me know your thoughts! 😉
Two skylights in their living room was the first think I use to photograph them. I exposed for the highlights and forgot about the shadows.
Using the same skylight, a spotlight effect on a dreamy moment. Still exposing for the lights.
Remember the first photo in this post? This is the same situation but this time I just did not make my exposure compensation as negative. I am exposing for the middle tones that are in their faces and then making it a bit negative, just a bit.
Now, what happens if you expose for the shadows? Well, here is the result, the colors are not as saturated, but they still have the beautiful head light. Also, the direction of the light here is from the side and not from the back.
This is my favorite photograph... still the same situation, the same place, Dale and Dior have moved very little, I have been flying around them like crazy. And as part of my exploration I see their shadow... This is a Hallmark card photograph, with a little light heart between them! Don't you think that is sweet? 😉
Back inside we use their silhouettes against their window... Why not? they will be looking throughout that window for a few years! Once more, exposing for the highlights. Dior commented that I was fast to catch this funny moment... a photographer should be ready at all times!
We made it to the beach for the last part of the sunset. This is at Ocean Beach. The exposure is easy to handle here, because all is kind of light the same way, With the cloudy white balance and the little bit of reddish light that the sun is still emanating, I get a very nice warm color in their faces.
Having fun on our way to the next location (it was not too far, do not worry!)
I love graffiti... I know is such a cliché, but I could not avoid to have them pose in front of it. The light is not too special, but their jackets against the graffiti makes it fun.
Now that the sunlight is almost gone, it is the perfect time to have an exposure that will be balanced for that little bit of sunlight and the street lights. Can you see the back lighting effect that I tried to create by moving around and making sure one of those street lights was right behind them? Move, explore!
I use the street lights in this photograph to light my subject. But, what is very important here is to expose for the shadows in them, and not for the street lights. I had to move from Aperture preferred to Manual mode, because every time a car will pass by, my meeter will be fulled by it... A good thing to remember.
Thank you Dale and Dior for a fun time! (again, expose for the high lights during a sunset and you will get the silhouette effect)
