This is the second part in an eight-part series that will post each week through the first week of May. This series was created by Kristin Prelipp Oguntoyinbo for the amateur family photographer. These tips are simple, quick things you can do to vastly improve the photos you take. I will be using photos that I have taken in my role as the family photographer, not images taken with my high end cameras, complicated techniques and studio lighting. These are images that anyone can take, many of them shot with a point and shoot camera.
TIP 2: WATCH THE LIGHT
Truly amazing photographs are usually a mix of a moment, good composition and great light. Moments occur like magic at random and composition is something you try for but it only works out beautifully from time to time, but light! You can always find good light. You just have to know where to look for it. There are some very simple rules for finding great light. Bright sunshine creates harsh shadows and most often makes your subject squint. Whereas overcast, almost rainy days are great. Cloud cover acts as a filter on the sun so the resulting light is even and constant. In the image on the left, taken with my iPhone at 11 a.m. on a sunny day the subject, Leo, is obscured by all the harsh shadows and bright light. I can’t even see his handsome face. In the image on the right, taken by my ten-year-old on a overcast day at 4 in the afternoon you can see every single detail of Leo’s pouty face.
The best times of day to photograph are the early morning and late in the day. Try to avoid noon if you can. All light has a temperature or shade. Did you know that fluorescent light is actually green? Our eye corrects for it but cameras do not. Noon light is blue and the beginning and end of day light is beautiful, warm amber. If you happen to find yourself outdoors on a cloudless day at noon, you can always look for open shade. Here is how NOT to do it! In the image below I was able to find some shade to get a photo of my son’s class but we unfortunately did not find a large enough patch of shade. Darn those light blobs, as I call them!
In this photo, taken at the same time of day on a very bright day, I took Amira into shade deep enough to avoid the nasty light blobs.
Did you miss the first tip? Click HERE to read it.
by KPO Photo
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