January 20, 2025 • 33 mins
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This episode dives deep into the importance of light in photography, exploring how it can transform images from average to extraordinary. We cover essential techniques to understand and use different types of light effectively, whether indoors or outdoors, and discuss the importance of maintaining a cohesive style through lighting.
• Identifying and using soft vs harsh light
• Adjusting settings for quality in photography
• Tips for utilizing outdoor light effectively
• Best practices for indoor photography
• Creative lighting techniques such as dappled light and silhouettes
• The impact of light on portfolio cohesion
• Encouragement to practice with light variations
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, mama, whether or not you're trying out your
camera for the very first timeor you've been doing this a
while and just looking for somecreative inspiration, I've got
all that and more.
I'm here to help you see yourworld differently, challenge you
creatively and find yourpassion for photography.
Hey guys, welcome back to theBetter Photos Podcast.
(00:23):
How are you doing?
Did you work on your challengefrom last week, working on focus
points and focus area?
I have a confession to makethat I, honestly, when I got my
Sony okay, so when I had myCanon, that is what I really
bought it for, it was for allthe focus points.
But when I got my Sony, Ipretty much went on YouTube and
(00:48):
typed in what settings are bestfor family photos and adjust my
camera accordingly.
So I I learned something newthis week too, and so I tried
out the spot tracking mode and Ialso tried something new with
back button focus, which we didnot talk about last week, but
(01:10):
basically that is, instead ofyour shutter pressing down
halfway to focus the shot, youuse a button on the back and
mine says AF on that focuses theshot for you.
So at my last session, I notonly tried the spot focus.
I also did the back button, sohopefully you guys tried out
(01:31):
something new, learned somethingnew.
Also, last week we were talkingabout snow and it unfortunately
did not snow at all inCharlotte last week, so we
bought all of our snow gear fornothing.
We're hopeful something elsewill come next week, but the
weather keeps changing, so Ihave no idea what is going on
(01:54):
with that.
Also, I talked about this applast week that is supposed to
take, like your old photos andmake them come alive, and I
don't know if you saw my stories, but I tried it out with a
picture of my grandparents andwhile it took me a lot of tries
to find the right setting sothere's like things, different
(02:16):
things you can do you can dowhere they kiss, hug, dance, and
none of those worked for me orI couldn't figure out how to do
it, and apparently if you payfor it, you only get like 10
credits, so you get like 10tries, I think it was, and when
none of those worked, it made mepay for more tries and I was
like determined to get somethingthat worked.
So if you try it, try it withan old photo, get a good quality
(02:40):
of it.
Mine was a picture of a picturethat my mom sent me, so maybe
try scanning in a photo and thenuse live photo on the app.
If you try it, if you saw it,it looked okay, but it doesn't
look exactly like mygrandparents.
So when they turn to the side Idon't know it like lengthens,
(03:01):
their noses or chins or I don'tknow.
So that's what I'm saying.
If you have a better qualityphoto, then maybe that would
work.
Um, also, I ordered okay, so I'mlike a sucker for things that
get sponsored on my Instagram,especially, um, like wellness
related stuff and photographystuff, of course.
(03:23):
So there was this camera lens.
That which my word, or likethings that I like loved last
year, that I want to like trymore of this year, is like
nostalgic photos, like vintagevibe, like the grain, the photos
that are kind of effortless andjust will remind you of like
(03:47):
childhood or like your kids oftheir childhood.
Um, and so this lens is like aI think it's like a kind of like
a disposable camera, look, butalso like film grain stuff like
that, and it was only $50.
So, of course, I bought it andit's supposed to come on Friday,
so I'll let you know how itgoes or show some sneak peeks of
(04:09):
that, but I think it's calledlike pocket dispo I'm not sure,
but I saw a lot of photographersthat I follow and admire.
They also were following thiscompany, so that gives me some
hope in trying trying it out.
So I love trying new things,especially when I have like an
idea of what I want my photos tolook like and how I can
(04:30):
incorporate more things to makeit look that way.
So, without further ado, thisweek we are going to talk about
such a huge topic.
Besides your settings andgetting things in focus, focus
we are going to talk about light.
Light is so important and,honestly, the biggest game
(04:54):
changer when it comes tophotography.
This is what is going to setyou apart from beginner to
professional, or at least looklike it, and this is knowing
your light and knowing how toadjust your camera or yourself
depending on the light.
All right, so first we want totalk about soft versus harsh
(05:17):
light.
Soft light is going to give eventones.
You're not going to have likesuper dark shadows and you're
not going to have super brighthighlights in a very short span
of an image, if that makes sense.
Like I still want contrast in aphoto which I do like blacks,
(05:38):
even though I kind of pull mineup a little bit, but you do
still want a range of thosethings.
But harsh light is like whenyou have dark, dark, dark, dark
side of your face and then likea super white spot on your nose
and then dark other places andjust super white spots.
So that harsh light you candefinitely see it on this reel
(06:01):
that I posted on Instagram at beposh photo.
That's like a Barbie head andit's like why I don't take
photos at 12 pm, at noon, thatis because the sun is directly
above your head and it iscasting harsh lights on your
face.
It is so unflattering andthere's really nothing you can
do except for shooting in shade,but even then it's like the sun
(06:24):
is at the highest point in thesky.
So if I could recommend onething, do not shoot at noon.
Earlier fine, later fine.
You can learn to work arounddifferent things, but soft light
is always going to give betterskin tones, better textures and,
overall, more flattering light,all right.
(06:49):
So another thing is quality oflight.
So you'll notice, if you takepictures on your phone at night,
your photos are going to bevery grainy.
They are going to maybe noteven focus on what you want to
focus on.
They are just going to be verylow quality photos.
(07:10):
The more light you have, thehigher quality that you are
going to have of a photo.
So think about that when you'retaking photos.
Think about, okay, making surethat your ISO is properly
adjusted, making sure that allyour settings are correct so
that you can have a good qualityimage with the light that you
(07:35):
have available to you.
Indoor and outdoor, there'sgoing to be different things
that play into whether you areshooting outdoor or whether
you're shooting indoor.
So when you're shooting outdoor, the type of light that you
have is sunlight, and that isgoing to be more of a yellowy
tone, except for overcast daysare going to be more of that
(07:58):
gray like bluer tone stuff.
Okay.
So if you're outside and it isso bright, you're going, you may
want to look for shade.
You want to look at yoursubject and if they are having
like too many shadows or toomany highlights, especially like
on the nose or under the eyes,then you want to find some shade
(08:20):
.
You don't want to shoot where,if you look at the ground and
you see a high contrast, wherethe grass is so bright and then
there's like a line that showsthe darker grass.
You don't want to be shootingIn that type of high contrast.
That is not going to be softlight.
When you're beginning you wantto kind of find the most even
(08:43):
light.
So I would shoot in that allshade, or you can shoot in the
light, but you're going to makesure that your subject is more
facing the light so that they'regetting better light on their,
on their skin, which is betterfor their textures.
I always try to keep in mind tohave my subjects looking at the
(09:03):
light, no matter where that is,because that is going to help
with the textures and of theirskin, on their face and you
don't want raccoon eyes and youdon't want faces that you're
going to have to edit withexposure later, which sometimes
I have had to do that.
(09:24):
So if you can just get it rightin camera, then that's going to
be less editing for later.
So outdoor you you can tryshade you can try we'll talk
about later like creative lightIf you are in harsh lighting
situations, turning yoursubjects with the light behind
them, but not shooting directlyinto the sun but really close up
(09:46):
and just changing your angle ifyou're getting too much haze on
the back of their head.
So sometimes if you're shootingwith the light behind a subject,
then you can get really hazyand not crisp like faces.
So you may want to change yourangle, whether you're shooting
up into their faces or shootingdown or making sure that the sun
(10:08):
is not directly coming intoyour camera lens.
Having somebody kind of blockit or just changing your angle
can help with that haze or withwhich.
Sometimes again, with creativelight, you may want the sun
flare.
But I find when people arelooking at the camera and their
faces are hazy, it is not a goodquality.
(10:30):
And I don't mind if it's acreative one, where they're not
looking at the camera and maybeI'm like focused on their hands
holding something and theirfaces are hazy and they're not
looking at the camera.
But when someone's looking atthe camera, people want to see
their eyes, people want to seelike make that connection with
them, and so I don't suggesthaving that haze in that type of
(10:53):
photo.
All right, so for indoor, mybiggest recommendation is to
turn off the inside lights.
So, how I said, natural lightoutside the sunlight it's going
to be more it's actually like abluer light than the light that
is inside your home.
So whenever you are shootingwith indoor lights and natural
(11:17):
light outside, when you editit's going to be two different
color tones, and especially onpeople like the light indoor
light and the outdoor light ishitting someone's face, you are
going to have orange light tocolor correct and blue light to
color correct, which is going totake the color out of your
subject's skin.
So I know that sounds reallyconfusing.
(11:37):
So just think about when you'reshooting something inside and
it's sunny outside, then turnoff the inside lights,
especially when this comes toeven taking pictures of your
food.
Turn off the inside lights, gotake it over by a window and
photograph with the brightestnatural light that you can.
Trust me, it'll make your foodlook so much more appetizing
(12:00):
than photographing it in thatorange, uh ugly light that is
casting shadows on that food.
Um, if you are shooting inside,you can play with that
artificial light.
I would try things like stillhaving the subject look towards
the light or maybe even have itlike in the background.
(12:20):
Um, if you need to brighten upa room and you have the natural
light, then maybe the lamp is inthe back and someone's blocking
it a little bit so you see,like their silhouette maybe, um,
it's just like a piece in thebackground that's just
illuminating not your mainsubject, but as like a extra
(12:45):
little piece of light back thereor creative element, um,
getting close to a window.
So sometimes if I go to a houseand it is really dark, I get
everyone close to the window.
Make sure to adjust yourexposure so that people are not
super bright.
Again, you don't want to goback and edit people.
(13:05):
If you shoot too bright andthere's lots of highlights, you
are not going to be able tobring back that information in
Lightroom or Photoshop orwherever you edit.
If you're shooting raw and youshoot super bright, where there
is these highlights, it will notbring them back once you bring
down the exposure back inLightroom or whatever else.
(13:25):
So you always want to shootlower and get more shadows.
Make sure that your highlightsare correct and not super bright
so that you can pull up shadowslater.
So I always try to make surethat I shoot under that zero and
never at like a two on thatmeter that we were talking about
week two or week one.
(13:47):
So if you missed that episode,go back to episode one and
listening, listen to aboutmetering and your settings, and
then this will be um, just icingon that cake of what you've
already learned.
Um, so shooting near a window,um, making sure that your
subjects are looking towards thelight.
If they are looking at you,don't have their heads right in
(14:10):
front of the window with theirbacks to the window looking at
you again.
That might heads right in frontof the window with their backs
to the window looking at youAgain.
That might be too much haze ontheir face.
I try to get up above thesubject or to the side, or I
have them like with the window,like facing towards them, or
where they're facing the windowand I am in a different spot of
(14:30):
the room.
So making sure that yoursubjects are well lit in their
faces is ultimate priority.
When you are shooting orwhatever else, you want to be
the focus you want if theirhands or feet or whatever and
try to make sure that they'renot looking at you, otherwise
(14:51):
the viewer's eye wants to gostraight to their eyes and if
that is not your main focus andit is like hazy and not a good
quality of light, then the imageis just going to lack a little
bit in what you are meaning todo.
All right, so outdoor light wetalked about being in shade, um
(15:13):
different places outdoor.
If you are shooting earlier inthe day, look for like a tree,
like a wooded place, look fortrees where you can get light
that is kind of being filteredthrough some people.
Again, we talked about like thesnow being like a um reflector
and some people have about likethe snow being like a reflector
(15:34):
and some people have thingscalled diffusers, which is is
like a white sheet or it couldbe like a white curtain or
something that is making thelight diffused and not so harsh
coming through your subject.
So some of those really cutelike where they're hanging up
the, the blankets or linen anddoing those like what are they
(15:54):
called Clothesline sessions,then that is also helping you be
able to shoot earlier in theday because you're diffusing the
light.
So sometimes I can shootearlier in the day if I know
that I have a background that isnot wide open.
Those fields that are wide openI tend to leave.
For if you're doing morning,then do like right right at
(16:20):
sunrise or at night.
I do an hour before sunsetbecause I really want, if the
sun is out that light.
That's the warm tone that layson everything when the sun is
going down, but then you alsoget some of the blue light.
That is really fun after.
So it makes for a wide range ofediting afterwards when you
(16:42):
have some like a harsh lightright before the sun goes down,
then the golden light, then theblue light, but it makes for a
variety of a gallery blue light.
But it makes for a variety of agallery.
And that is what I really loveis that if I'm not shooting
indoor because I find indoor tobe just a little bit it's good
with the light because I knowwhere to shoot.
(17:02):
But it's also the pressure ofgetting the room that people
want.
You know, like, if people wantlike a magazine photo look of
their room, then what people aredoing is they're either
bringing um like reflectors ormaybe flash, maybe they are
(17:23):
putting their camera on tripodsand putting it down really low
so that you don't have to worryabout like a camera shake,
putting it down really low sothat you don't have to worry
about like a camera shake, um,but it really just depends on
what the light is outside of,how bright of a room I get or
how much natural light is in theroom that I have.
So when I shoot newborns Ishoot like around 9, 30 am to 10
(17:47):
am anytime really.
That is like 10 am ish or if Iwas going to do the afternoon,
probably like three in thesummer and then maybe like one
or two in the winter, just soyou get some of that light
that's coming through thewindows.
And I also ask for a photosometimes of the nursery before
(18:09):
a session so that I can see howmuch light I'm actually going to
get.
You're welcome to try flashphotography.
I don't personally love flashbecause I feel like it looks a
little too fake, a little toonot real.
I'm I don't know.
I just like really love thethought of like someone peeked
(18:33):
into your life and saw thisbeautiful moment and captured it
.
That is like my uh view ofphotography.
Um, behind the scenes it'sobviously not really like that.
There's a lot of prompting, alot of chasing, a lot of
craziness, a lot of bribing.
But when you look at the images, I want it to look like it kind
(18:53):
of happened more naturally.
And when you add a flash, thenI can tell when people are using
a flash and it just makes mefeel like this is not authentic.
But having a flash obviouslyhelps, and I know that there are
some great classes out therethat will teach you how to use
on camera flash and make it lookreally natural.
(19:16):
So you're definitely welcome toexplore that avenue.
I would only use flash if I wastrying to do mimicking some of
those, um, new trendy I don'tknow if they're still trendy,
but they were the likedisposable camera flash
photography, um, so that wouldbe just for like a moment or
(19:42):
like again to add variety to asession, um, okay, so now
talking about creative light,and so I did a series a while
ago on my Instagram.
That was kind of like abeginner class and it was reels
that I posted and the hashtagwas BP photo class and there was
(20:04):
a light one on there, and somedifferent lighting techniques
can add to your variety of yourgallery and make shooting so
much more fun.
So the first set of light thatis more creative would be
dappled light, and so this is ifyou are inside, you see the
(20:25):
shadow and light of blinds onthe floor, or you see the window
pane.
You know shadow on the floor.
Whatever you see, that's likesuper high contrast, like light
and shadow.
When it's really bright outsidethe window, that is like
dappled light, anything thatmakes like a pattern with light.
(20:45):
So outside sometimes I findlike leaves.
You know that the sun isshining through the leaves and
it projects a shadow on a walland you can really use that
creatively to draw the viewer'seye to something.
And so maybe a kid is laying inthe dappled light.
I just posted a newborn photo onmy Instagram at Be Posh Photo.
(21:09):
That was in dappled light, likesome of the lines from the
blinds were casting on the bed,and so I put the baby right
there intentionally just to drawa little bit more intrigue to
the subject, and so that can beused.
Then another one is artificiallight.
So if you're turning off allthe lights, you're shooting at
(21:29):
night and maybe you have a childthat is close to a nightlight
or their bedside light andthey're reading a book and you
want to get some of that as yourimage.
Or maybe a kid is under the bedwith a flashlight and you're
not looking for the best, youknow skin tones and you know
(21:50):
non-wrinkled faces and whateverLike that can be a great like
shot to add some variety.
Another one is silhouettes.
So if you are shooting insideand there's a lot of sun coming
through the back or through thewindow, then you can have people
(22:11):
like facing each other and justput your exposure down enough
to where you can just see theirsilhouette, so they've turned
like kind of like a blackoutline and then just the light
is really bright behind them, oreven outdoor.
(22:31):
You can do this especially likewith maternity.
I love to hold up like a lace,blanket or something like that
or a sheet and then puttingsomebody that's pregnant behind
and the light is like comingthrough but making that shadow
of her belly, and so that islike a creative maternity shot.
Um, you can also do that withkids.
I've done that a lot.
(22:52):
Um, just having some silhouettetype fun when the light is kind
of going down at the end of theday or coming through the
windows, if you were doingoutside or even inside, some of
the high contrast or full sunshots can be fun.
If you have somebody lookingdirectly or facing let me say
facing direct towards the sun,maybe their eyes are closed and
(23:16):
you are turning your exposuredown again so that you don't
blow those highlights and justeverything behind them is going
to turn really dark, and so itis a great way to add focus to
your subject.
So think about what you want toilluminate, what do you want
the viewer's eye to go to, andit can really play a part of
storytelling and just helpingyour viewer see what you're
(23:40):
trying to communicate or what isthe main focus, or just guide
the viewer into an experience bythe way that you use lights and
then also being able to give,like a wide variety of shots to
your client, to your client.
(24:01):
The one thing I will say aboutlight is that this is something
that will make you look cohesiveon your feed or it can make you
look super not knowing whatyou're doing.
So a lot of times on InstagramI will look at a feed and I'm
like, oh, I see this great softlight, but then I see this like
horrible green lime light thathas people with really bad
(24:28):
shadows and I can tell they shotlike in midday.
Then I see this like soft, likegolden light.
Then I see, um, you know, superbright light.
So you got to think about likeyour lights and knowing what
you're doing with your settingsto make your feed look a little
more consistent, mainly because,yeah, it's one thing to have
(24:50):
like a pretty feed, but it'salso like establishing what.
If you're a photographer thathas a business or is charging
people for photos, I want peopleto know that what they see on
my Instagram is exactly whatthey're going to get when they
hire me.
I don't want them to see like ajumbled up mess of like
sporadic images that look like Ihave no idea what I'm doing.
(25:12):
When it comes to light, andwhile the images may be
different, like I said with likethe high contrast stuff, I
still lower the contrast inediting, which we'll talk later
in a future episode aboutediting.
But even the different lookslike my feed still looks
(25:32):
consistent and cohesive and thatis just to show my clients that
what you see on Instagram iswhat you're going to get to and
when I guide my clients on whattime of day we're shooting like.
Yes, I know your little onesneed to get to bed or they have
naps, but lighting plays a bigpart in the way your photos are
(25:54):
going to look and if you likereally resist the times that I
suggest, then your photos arenot going to look exactly like
my feed.
Um, so that's just somethingthat, like I have a conversation
with um, like again, like, if Ido earlier than I'll mention
like, okay, like I need to lookfor you.
(26:16):
You know dappled light or youknow shade or not.
We're not shooting in a fieldwith no trees at 10 am or even
like 2 pm.
If we are shooting in a fieldwith no trees or nothing like,
we are waiting until the lightgoes down, and that is for the
(26:39):
benefit of my client, becausethey are not going to like
photos that don't make them lookgood.
So light can play such a bigfactor in whether or not people
like their photos, becausepeople like when they look good.
And if you have taken your ownphoto, then you know that as
(26:59):
well.
That when you were taking aphoto in inside bathroom light
in an old bathroom versus infront or in your car, let's be
honest, like when you're sittingin the front seat of your car
doing like your Instagram photoor whatever, like you're like oh
, yeah, this looks good and it'sreally just because the light
like another thing too.
Not to get off topic, yeah,this looks good and it's really
just because the light likeanother thing too.
(27:20):
Not to get off topic, but Imean it's still with light, but
like when I look at before andafter photos of like med spas or
makeup or like whatever, andit's like I notice that it's
yellow, dull light in the firstphoto and then they've moved to
natural light.
I'm like, did anything reallychange other than the light?
No, and so I'm like, wait asecond, put me, put that client
(27:43):
in the same light and then letme decide whether it looks
better or not.
But obviously this is like atrick of the eye, is that they
are making their weight losslook more significant with the
light that they use and or theirmakeup or their results or
whatever.
And obviously that's like youknow something that they
(28:06):
purposely, intentionally try touse to to sell something.
But anyways, I know theirsecret.
Um, all right.
So this week your challenge willbe to shoot in different types
of light.
So maybe try going outside inthe morning and taking a shot,
maybe going like an hour beforesunset and taking a photo.
(28:30):
Maybe taking a photo in shade,maybe taking a photo where the
light is kind of peering throughthe trees and then maybe
switching to inside photo.
Maybe taking a photo with yoursubject by the window or by the
trees and then maybe switchingto inside photo, maybe taking a
photo with your subject by thewindow or by the door and
turning off all those insidelights, and then maybe try
putting at night, when thelights are all off, maybe try
(28:52):
using some artificial light justto see what that looks like and
the difference between it.
So that is like something thatyou can work on and something
that will really make a bigimpact on your photography.
And next week is going to besomething just as important and
one of my favorite things comingfrom an art background, we are
(29:15):
going to be talking aboutcomposition.
Coming from an art background,we are going to be talking about
composition, and so that'll besomething that you'll want to
come back for and get anotherlittle tidbit on how to make
better photos.
So hope you guys have a greatweek and we will see you next
time.
Hey, mama, whether or not you're trying out your
camera for the very first timeor you've been doing this a
while and just looking for somecreative inspiration, I've got
all that and more.
I'm here to help you see yourworld differently, challenge you
creatively and find yourpassion for photography.
Hey guys, welcome back to theBetter Photos Podcast.
(00:23):
How are you doing?
Did you work on your challengefrom last week, working on focus
points and focus area?
I have a confession to makethat I, honestly, when I got my
Sony okay, so when I had myCanon, that is what I really
bought it for, it was for allthe focus points.
But when I got my Sony, Ipretty much went on YouTube and
(00:48):
typed in what settings are bestfor family photos and adjust my
camera accordingly.
So I I learned something newthis week too, and so I tried
out the spot tracking mode and Ialso tried something new with
back button focus, which we didnot talk about last week, but
(01:10):
basically that is, instead ofyour shutter pressing down
halfway to focus the shot, youuse a button on the back and
mine says AF on that focuses theshot for you.
So at my last session, I notonly tried the spot focus.
I also did the back button, sohopefully you guys tried out
(01:31):
something new, learned somethingnew.
Also, last week we were talkingabout snow and it unfortunately
did not snow at all inCharlotte last week, so we
bought all of our snow gear fornothing.
We're hopeful something elsewill come next week, but the
weather keeps changing, so Ihave no idea what is going on
(01:54):
with that.
Also, I talked about this applast week that is supposed to
take, like your old photos andmake them come alive, and I
don't know if you saw my stories, but I tried it out with a
picture of my grandparents andwhile it took me a lot of tries
to find the right setting sothere's like things, different
(02:16):
things you can do you can dowhere they kiss, hug, dance, and
none of those worked for me orI couldn't figure out how to do
it, and apparently if you payfor it, you only get like 10
credits, so you get like 10tries, I think it was, and when
none of those worked, it made mepay for more tries and I was
like determined to get somethingthat worked.
So if you try it, try it withan old photo, get a good quality
(02:40):
of it.
Mine was a picture of a picturethat my mom sent me, so maybe
try scanning in a photo and thenuse live photo on the app.
If you try it, if you saw it,it looked okay, but it doesn't
look exactly like mygrandparents.
So when they turn to the side Idon't know it like lengthens,
(03:01):
their noses or chins or I don'tknow.
So that's what I'm saying.
If you have a better qualityphoto, then maybe that would
work.
Um, also, I ordered okay, so I'mlike a sucker for things that
get sponsored on my Instagram,especially, um, like wellness
related stuff and photographystuff, of course.
(03:23):
So there was this camera lens.
That which my word, or likethings that I like loved last
year, that I want to like trymore of this year, is like
nostalgic photos, like vintagevibe, like the grain, the photos
that are kind of effortless andjust will remind you of like
(03:47):
childhood or like your kids oftheir childhood.
Um, and so this lens is like aI think it's like a kind of like
a disposable camera, look, butalso like film grain stuff like
that, and it was only $50.
So, of course, I bought it andit's supposed to come on Friday,
so I'll let you know how itgoes or show some sneak peeks of
(04:09):
that, but I think it's calledlike pocket dispo I'm not sure,
but I saw a lot of photographersthat I follow and admire.
They also were following thiscompany, so that gives me some
hope in trying trying it out.
So I love trying new things,especially when I have like an
idea of what I want my photos tolook like and how I can
(04:30):
incorporate more things to makeit look that way.
So, without further ado, thisweek we are going to talk about
such a huge topic.
Besides your settings andgetting things in focus, focus
we are going to talk about light.
Light is so important and,honestly, the biggest game
(04:54):
changer when it comes tophotography.
This is what is going to setyou apart from beginner to
professional, or at least looklike it, and this is knowing
your light and knowing how toadjust your camera or yourself
depending on the light.
All right, so first we want totalk about soft versus harsh
(05:17):
light.
Soft light is going to give eventones.
You're not going to have likesuper dark shadows and you're
not going to have super brighthighlights in a very short span
of an image, if that makes sense.
Like I still want contrast in aphoto which I do like blacks,
(05:38):
even though I kind of pull mineup a little bit, but you do
still want a range of thosethings.
But harsh light is like whenyou have dark, dark, dark, dark
side of your face and then likea super white spot on your nose
and then dark other places andjust super white spots.
So that harsh light you candefinitely see it on this reel
(06:01):
that I posted on Instagram at beposh photo.
That's like a Barbie head andit's like why I don't take
photos at 12 pm, at noon, thatis because the sun is directly
above your head and it iscasting harsh lights on your
face.
It is so unflattering andthere's really nothing you can
do except for shooting in shade,but even then it's like the sun
(06:24):
is at the highest point in thesky.
So if I could recommend onething, do not shoot at noon.
Earlier fine, later fine.
You can learn to work arounddifferent things, but soft light
is always going to give betterskin tones, better textures and,
overall, more flattering light,all right.
(06:49):
So another thing is quality oflight.
So you'll notice, if you takepictures on your phone at night,
your photos are going to bevery grainy.
They are going to maybe noteven focus on what you want to
focus on.
They are just going to be verylow quality photos.
(07:10):
The more light you have, thehigher quality that you are
going to have of a photo.
So think about that when you'retaking photos.
Think about, okay, making surethat your ISO is properly
adjusted, making sure that allyour settings are correct so
that you can have a good qualityimage with the light that you
(07:35):
have available to you.
Indoor and outdoor, there'sgoing to be different things
that play into whether you areshooting outdoor or whether
you're shooting indoor.
So when you're shooting outdoor, the type of light that you
have is sunlight, and that isgoing to be more of a yellowy
tone, except for overcast daysare going to be more of that
(07:58):
gray like bluer tone stuff.
Okay.
So if you're outside and it isso bright, you're going, you may
want to look for shade.
You want to look at yoursubject and if they are having
like too many shadows or toomany highlights, especially like
on the nose or under the eyes,then you want to find some shade
(08:20):
.
You don't want to shoot where,if you look at the ground and
you see a high contrast, wherethe grass is so bright and then
there's like a line that showsthe darker grass.
You don't want to be shootingIn that type of high contrast.
That is not going to be softlight.
When you're beginning you wantto kind of find the most even
(08:43):
light.
So I would shoot in that allshade, or you can shoot in the
light, but you're going to makesure that your subject is more
facing the light so that they'regetting better light on their,
on their skin, which is betterfor their textures.
I always try to keep in mind tohave my subjects looking at the
(09:03):
light, no matter where that is,because that is going to help
with the textures and of theirskin, on their face and you
don't want raccoon eyes and youdon't want faces that you're
going to have to edit withexposure later, which sometimes
I have had to do that.
(09:24):
So if you can just get it rightin camera, then that's going to
be less editing for later.
So outdoor you you can tryshade you can try we'll talk
about later like creative lightIf you are in harsh lighting
situations, turning yoursubjects with the light behind
them, but not shooting directlyinto the sun but really close up
(09:46):
and just changing your angle ifyou're getting too much haze on
the back of their head.
So sometimes if you're shootingwith the light behind a subject,
then you can get really hazyand not crisp like faces.
So you may want to change yourangle, whether you're shooting
up into their faces or shootingdown or making sure that the sun
(10:08):
is not directly coming intoyour camera lens.
Having somebody kind of blockit or just changing your angle
can help with that haze or withwhich.
Sometimes again, with creativelight, you may want the sun
flare.
But I find when people arelooking at the camera and their
faces are hazy, it is not a goodquality.
(10:30):
And I don't mind if it's acreative one, where they're not
looking at the camera and maybeI'm like focused on their hands
holding something and theirfaces are hazy and they're not
looking at the camera.
But when someone's looking atthe camera, people want to see
their eyes, people want to seelike make that connection with
them, and so I don't suggesthaving that haze in that type of
(10:53):
photo.
All right, so for indoor, mybiggest recommendation is to
turn off the inside lights.
So, how I said, natural lightoutside the sunlight it's going
to be more it's actually like abluer light than the light that
is inside your home.
So whenever you are shootingwith indoor lights and natural
(11:17):
light outside, when you editit's going to be two different
color tones, and especially onpeople like the light indoor
light and the outdoor light ishitting someone's face, you are
going to have orange light tocolor correct and blue light to
color correct, which is going totake the color out of your
subject's skin.
So I know that sounds reallyconfusing.
(11:37):
So just think about when you'reshooting something inside and
it's sunny outside, then turnoff the inside lights,
especially when this comes toeven taking pictures of your
food.
Turn off the inside lights, gotake it over by a window and
photograph with the brightestnatural light that you can.
Trust me, it'll make your foodlook so much more appetizing
(12:00):
than photographing it in thatorange, uh ugly light that is
casting shadows on that food.
Um, if you are shooting inside,you can play with that
artificial light.
I would try things like stillhaving the subject look towards
the light or maybe even have itlike in the background.
(12:20):
Um, if you need to brighten upa room and you have the natural
light, then maybe the lamp is inthe back and someone's blocking
it a little bit so you see,like their silhouette maybe, um,
it's just like a piece in thebackground that's just
illuminating not your mainsubject, but as like a extra
(12:45):
little piece of light back thereor creative element, um,
getting close to a window.
So sometimes if I go to a houseand it is really dark, I get
everyone close to the window.
Make sure to adjust yourexposure so that people are not
super bright.
Again, you don't want to goback and edit people.
(13:05):
If you shoot too bright andthere's lots of highlights, you
are not going to be able tobring back that information in
Lightroom or Photoshop orwherever you edit.
If you're shooting raw and youshoot super bright, where there
is these highlights, it will notbring them back once you bring
down the exposure back inLightroom or whatever else.
(13:25):
So you always want to shootlower and get more shadows.
Make sure that your highlightsare correct and not super bright
so that you can pull up shadowslater.
So I always try to make surethat I shoot under that zero and
never at like a two on thatmeter that we were talking about
week two or week one.
(13:47):
So if you missed that episode,go back to episode one and
listening, listen to aboutmetering and your settings, and
then this will be um, just icingon that cake of what you've
already learned.
Um, so shooting near a window,um, making sure that your
subjects are looking towards thelight.
If they are looking at you,don't have their heads right in
(14:10):
front of the window with theirbacks to the window looking at
you again.
That might heads right in frontof the window with their backs
to the window looking at youAgain.
That might be too much haze ontheir face.
I try to get up above thesubject or to the side, or I
have them like with the window,like facing towards them, or
where they're facing the windowand I am in a different spot of
(14:30):
the room.
So making sure that yoursubjects are well lit in their
faces is ultimate priority.
When you are shooting orwhatever else, you want to be
the focus you want if theirhands or feet or whatever and
try to make sure that they'renot looking at you, otherwise
(14:51):
the viewer's eye wants to gostraight to their eyes and if
that is not your main focus andit is like hazy and not a good
quality of light, then the imageis just going to lack a little
bit in what you are meaning todo.
All right, so outdoor light wetalked about being in shade, um
(15:13):
different places outdoor.
If you are shooting earlier inthe day, look for like a tree,
like a wooded place, look fortrees where you can get light
that is kind of being filteredthrough some people.
Again, we talked about like thesnow being like a um reflector
and some people have about likethe snow being like a reflector
(15:34):
and some people have thingscalled diffusers, which is is
like a white sheet or it couldbe like a white curtain or
something that is making thelight diffused and not so harsh
coming through your subject.
So some of those really cutelike where they're hanging up
the, the blankets or linen anddoing those like what are they
(15:54):
called Clothesline sessions,then that is also helping you be
able to shoot earlier in theday because you're diffusing the
light.
So sometimes I can shootearlier in the day if I know
that I have a background that isnot wide open.
Those fields that are wide openI tend to leave.
For if you're doing morning,then do like right right at
(16:20):
sunrise or at night.
I do an hour before sunsetbecause I really want, if the
sun is out that light.
That's the warm tone that layson everything when the sun is
going down, but then you alsoget some of the blue light.
That is really fun after.
So it makes for a wide range ofediting afterwards when you
(16:42):
have some like a harsh lightright before the sun goes down,
then the golden light, then theblue light, but it makes for a
variety of a gallery blue light.
But it makes for a variety of agallery.
And that is what I really loveis that if I'm not shooting
indoor because I find indoor tobe just a little bit it's good
with the light because I knowwhere to shoot.
(17:02):
But it's also the pressure ofgetting the room that people
want.
You know, like, if people wantlike a magazine photo look of
their room, then what people aredoing is they're either
bringing um like reflectors ormaybe flash, maybe they are
(17:23):
putting their camera on tripodsand putting it down really low
so that you don't have to worryabout like a camera shake,
putting it down really low sothat you don't have to worry
about like a camera shake, um,but it really just depends on
what the light is outside of,how bright of a room I get or
how much natural light is in theroom that I have.
So when I shoot newborns Ishoot like around 9, 30 am to 10
(17:47):
am anytime really.
That is like 10 am ish or if Iwas going to do the afternoon,
probably like three in thesummer and then maybe like one
or two in the winter, just soyou get some of that light
that's coming through thewindows.
And I also ask for a photosometimes of the nursery before
(18:09):
a session so that I can see howmuch light I'm actually going to
get.
You're welcome to try flashphotography.
I don't personally love flashbecause I feel like it looks a
little too fake, a little toonot real.
I'm I don't know.
I just like really love thethought of like someone peeked
(18:33):
into your life and saw thisbeautiful moment and captured it
.
That is like my uh view ofphotography.
Um, behind the scenes it'sobviously not really like that.
There's a lot of prompting, alot of chasing, a lot of
craziness, a lot of bribing.
But when you look at the images, I want it to look like it kind
(18:53):
of happened more naturally.
And when you add a flash, thenI can tell when people are using
a flash and it just makes mefeel like this is not authentic.
But having a flash obviouslyhelps, and I know that there are
some great classes out therethat will teach you how to use
on camera flash and make it lookreally natural.
(19:16):
So you're definitely welcome toexplore that avenue.
I would only use flash if I wastrying to do mimicking some of
those, um, new trendy I don'tknow if they're still trendy,
but they were the likedisposable camera flash
photography, um, so that wouldbe just for like a moment or
(19:42):
like again to add variety to asession, um, okay, so now
talking about creative light,and so I did a series a while
ago on my Instagram.
That was kind of like abeginner class and it was reels
that I posted and the hashtagwas BP photo class and there was
(20:04):
a light one on there, and somedifferent lighting techniques
can add to your variety of yourgallery and make shooting so
much more fun.
So the first set of light thatis more creative would be
dappled light, and so this is ifyou are inside, you see the
(20:25):
shadow and light of blinds onthe floor, or you see the window
pane.
You know shadow on the floor.
Whatever you see, that's likesuper high contrast, like light
and shadow.
When it's really bright outsidethe window, that is like
dappled light, anything thatmakes like a pattern with light.
(20:45):
So outside sometimes I findlike leaves.
You know that the sun isshining through the leaves and
it projects a shadow on a walland you can really use that
creatively to draw the viewer'seye to something.
And so maybe a kid is laying inthe dappled light.
I just posted a newborn photo onmy Instagram at Be Posh Photo.
(21:09):
That was in dappled light, likesome of the lines from the
blinds were casting on the bed,and so I put the baby right
there intentionally just to drawa little bit more intrigue to
the subject, and so that can beused.
Then another one is artificiallight.
So if you're turning off allthe lights, you're shooting at
(21:29):
night and maybe you have a childthat is close to a nightlight
or their bedside light andthey're reading a book and you
want to get some of that as yourimage.
Or maybe a kid is under the bedwith a flashlight and you're
not looking for the best, youknow skin tones and you know
(21:50):
non-wrinkled faces and whateverLike that can be a great like
shot to add some variety.
Another one is silhouettes.
So if you are shooting insideand there's a lot of sun coming
through the back or through thewindow, then you can have people
(22:11):
like facing each other and justput your exposure down enough
to where you can just see theirsilhouette, so they've turned
like kind of like a blackoutline and then just the light
is really bright behind them, oreven outdoor.
(22:31):
You can do this especially likewith maternity.
I love to hold up like a lace,blanket or something like that
or a sheet and then puttingsomebody that's pregnant behind
and the light is like comingthrough but making that shadow
of her belly, and so that islike a creative maternity shot.
Um, you can also do that withkids.
I've done that a lot.
(22:52):
Um, just having some silhouettetype fun when the light is kind
of going down at the end of theday or coming through the
windows, if you were doingoutside or even inside, some of
the high contrast or full sunshots can be fun.
If you have somebody lookingdirectly or facing let me say
facing direct towards the sun,maybe their eyes are closed and
(23:16):
you are turning your exposuredown again so that you don't
blow those highlights and justeverything behind them is going
to turn really dark, and so itis a great way to add focus to
your subject.
So think about what you want toilluminate, what do you want
the viewer's eye to go to, andit can really play a part of
storytelling and just helpingyour viewer see what you're
(23:40):
trying to communicate or what isthe main focus, or just guide
the viewer into an experience bythe way that you use lights and
then also being able to give,like a wide variety of shots to
your client, to your client.
(24:01):
The one thing I will say aboutlight is that this is something
that will make you look cohesiveon your feed or it can make you
look super not knowing whatyou're doing.
So a lot of times on InstagramI will look at a feed and I'm
like, oh, I see this great softlight, but then I see this like
horrible green lime light thathas people with really bad
(24:28):
shadows and I can tell they shotlike in midday.
Then I see this like soft, likegolden light.
Then I see, um, you know, superbright light.
So you got to think about likeyour lights and knowing what
you're doing with your settingsto make your feed look a little
more consistent, mainly because,yeah, it's one thing to have
(24:50):
like a pretty feed, but it'salso like establishing what.
If you're a photographer thathas a business or is charging
people for photos, I want peopleto know that what they see on
my Instagram is exactly whatthey're going to get when they
hire me.
I don't want them to see like ajumbled up mess of like
sporadic images that look like Ihave no idea what I'm doing.
(25:12):
When it comes to light, andwhile the images may be
different, like I said with likethe high contrast stuff, I
still lower the contrast inediting, which we'll talk later
in a future episode aboutediting.
But even the different lookslike my feed still looks
(25:32):
consistent and cohesive and thatis just to show my clients that
what you see on Instagram iswhat you're going to get to and
when I guide my clients on whattime of day we're shooting like.
Yes, I know your little onesneed to get to bed or they have
naps, but lighting plays a bigpart in the way your photos are
(25:54):
going to look and if you likereally resist the times that I
suggest, then your photos arenot going to look exactly like
my feed.
Um, so that's just somethingthat, like I have a conversation
with um, like again, like, if Ido earlier than I'll mention
like, okay, like I need to lookfor you.
(26:16):
You know dappled light or youknow shade or not.
We're not shooting in a fieldwith no trees at 10 am or even
like 2 pm.
If we are shooting in a fieldwith no trees or nothing like,
we are waiting until the lightgoes down, and that is for the
(26:39):
benefit of my client, becausethey are not going to like
photos that don't make them lookgood.
So light can play such a bigfactor in whether or not people
like their photos, becausepeople like when they look good.
And if you have taken your ownphoto, then you know that as
(26:59):
well.
That when you were taking aphoto in inside bathroom light
in an old bathroom versus infront or in your car, let's be
honest, like when you're sittingin the front seat of your car
doing like your Instagram photoor whatever, like you're like oh
, yeah, this looks good and it'sreally just because the light
like another thing too.
Not to get off topic, yeah,this looks good and it's really
just because the light likeanother thing too.
(27:20):
Not to get off topic, but Imean it's still with light, but
like when I look at before andafter photos of like med spas or
makeup or like whatever, andit's like I notice that it's
yellow, dull light in the firstphoto and then they've moved to
natural light.
I'm like, did anything reallychange other than the light?
No, and so I'm like, wait asecond, put me, put that client
(27:43):
in the same light and then letme decide whether it looks
better or not.
But obviously this is like atrick of the eye, is that they
are making their weight losslook more significant with the
light that they use and or theirmakeup or their results or
whatever.
And obviously that's like youknow something that they
(28:06):
purposely, intentionally try touse to to sell something.
But anyways, I know theirsecret.
Um, all right.
So this week your challenge willbe to shoot in different types
of light.
So maybe try going outside inthe morning and taking a shot,
maybe going like an hour beforesunset and taking a photo.
(28:30):
Maybe taking a photo in shade,maybe taking a photo where the
light is kind of peering throughthe trees and then maybe
switching to inside photo.
Maybe taking a photo with yoursubject by the window or by the
trees and then maybe switchingto inside photo, maybe taking a
photo with your subject by thewindow or by the door and
turning off all those insidelights, and then maybe try
putting at night, when thelights are all off, maybe try
(28:52):
using some artificial light justto see what that looks like and
the difference between it.
So that is like something thatyou can work on and something
that will really make a bigimpact on your photography.
And next week is going to besomething just as important and
one of my favorite things comingfrom an art background, we are
(29:15):
going to be talking aboutcomposition.
Coming from an art background,we are going to be talking about
composition, and so that'll besomething that you'll want to
come back for and get anotherlittle tidbit on how to make
better photos.
So hope you guys have a greatweek and we will see you next
time.
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