For non-photographers, or photographers who haven't learned about light yet, it can be kind of confusing to hear about "good" and "bad" light. Now, I will preface this by saying that your style greatly affects how you view light. I am developing a style in which I like clear, bright, well-lit, faces and skin tones and that informs what I think of as "good" and "bad" light. This has been our family photo location for YEARS! See how everyone's faces are brightly and evenly lit? There are a few shadows, but this is not a professional photo :) I honestly don't know how we get such nice, even light on our faces because there is NO access to the sky in front of us. We are staring at a sycamore tree. It's a mystery to me. This photo was taken in the exact same location. The only differences are time of day, vertical verses horizontal, and we are a little farther away from the tree. Look at the differences in the light on all of us. It's not even. On the little kids and my grandparents, the light is better, but it's super harsh on those in the back, especially my dad.
What would help this photo? First and foremost would be doing it at a different time of day. Second would be a different location. But, if there were no other options, putting my dad on the right would help block the light on other people's faces. Everyone on the right should turn in towards the middle more to get the light off their face. If we were doing it again, I'd also have us back towards the tree more. Now, if I had to do this time of day but had a different location, I'd find a place that allowed us to face our shadows and had lots of sky visible in front of us. This would keep the harsh shadows off the front of us and make the light nice and even on our faces. I see these photos every day on our wall and the difference is astonishing. I've tried to decipher what went "wrong" for the second photo and maybe I've figured it out or maybe not. I hope these visible examples can help you plan for your next family photo if you are taking it yourself.
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Hi! I'm Sarah!
I am a natural light portrait photographer. I've been taking photos since 2014 and would eat a smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe for lunch everyday if I could. Thank you so much for stopping by. I blog about sessions, things I'm learning, stuff in my life, and information for YOU, my client. If you like what you see around the site, I'd love to work with you! I'd also love to connect with you on Instagram. I'm @sarah_jayne_photo :) Archives
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