How To: Portraits in the "sweet-light"
I love to photograph outdoor portraits in the late afternoon setting sun. When Danielle and I recently teamed up for two children's portraits sessions (Cafe' Portraits - Tyler, Texas), we photographed both clients after 6 p.m. I call that time of day the "sweet-light." The light temperature (not the air temperature) is decidedly warmer (on the red or orange side) as opposed to cooler (bluish) light at mid-day sun.
I often use a technique I learned years ago called "rim-lighting." At its essence, rim-lighting utilizes the setting sun as a strong backlight and it "rims" the person's face, hair and shoulders giving the portrait depth and demension. Often, I will use a "bounce-light," a soft light to fill their faces with a reflector or diffused flash.
This portrait technique really works well with children and young adults because their skin is taunt with no wrinkles.
Also, posing hands can be really tricky. With children I find it is better to give them something to do with their hands as opposed to trying to pose them. With this lovely child immediately below, I just said "grab the fence and swing out." She did and it created a great portrait. I photographed her with a short telephoto lens to achieve a shallow depth of field. I flash-filled with a Fong Lightsphere (http://www.garyfongestore.com/ ) mounted on a Canon flash.
I also use a tripod more often than not. I had an instructor (Larry Peters) at Texas School tell me once that if he ever caught one of his associate photographers not using a tripod, he would fire them. I guess I don't feel that stongly about it, but late in the afternoon shutter speeds can get long. Larry's perspective on using a tripod has more to do with selling large wall-portraits. Just the slightest jiggle will ruin a large 24x36 portrait where it is barely noticable on an 8x10. I think he has a good point.
The portrait below is one of my all-time favorites. Danielle had the incredible idea to pose this toddler on an old tractor. Mom was bracing the child from behind. Danielle was acting like a crazy person to get the looks we wanted. I was happily snapping away. What AWESOME images we got that day. I used a long telephoto lens and a wide-open f-stop to achieve that creamy "bokeh" background effect. My child client did all the rest.
This portrait (below) utilizes the same backlighting technique, except for this portrait we used a full-vertical composition. Again, what an awesome, incredible portrait. This image became a large wall portrait in our client's home.
Until next time, remember rim light and the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.
Add a Comment