May’s theme is Light Inspired. Recently I have been very inspired by some of the photographers I follow and their use of light. One of my goals has been to incorporate artificial lighting with natural lighting to create unique outdoor portraits. Seeing their amazing images has inspired me to get out and create some images of my own. I still have a lot to learn, and I want and need to get more practice, but so far I am happy with the results I am seeing.
This first image is from my niece’s senior session. She is lit in front by natural light, and the rim light (on her hair and arm) is from a strobe placed behind her and to the right.
This next image is also from my nieces’ senior session. It was in the evening and the sun was lower in the sky. The buildings downtown were blocking the sun and so I used two speedlights with diffusers to illuminate them better.
I used the same set up for this image as well.
This image is from another senior session I did. I didn’t want to completely lose the beautiful sunset in the background, but in order to expose for the sky, I needed to light my subject. I used two speedlights here with diffusers on them.
This shot was taken with the sun fairly high in the sky. As with the last photo, I didn’t want to lose the beautiful blue sky, but I needed my subject’s face properly lit. So I used a strobe with a 42″ softbox for my main light.
For my last image we were shooting with the sun almost directly overhead. The beauty in this situation is that the sun was able to create a nice hair light on my subject. Then I used my strobe in the 42″ softbox to light my subject, and I used a speedlight with a grid to light the ball and glove. Using artificial light mixed with natural light allowed me to have everything properly exposed and even add a little dimensional lighting (the hair light from the sun).
I have so many ideas of other shots I want to get using a mixture of natural light and artificial light. When I first got into photography everyone always touted natural light photography. I won’t deny – natural light photography is easier on the one hand. There is no lugging around lights. You can move easily from location to location. However, mixing natural with artificial light makes things more interesting and I think it adds some dimension and dynamics to the images. It’s definitely something I will continue to implement. I’m excited to get out and create more images where I can control the lighting to create fun effects.
Thanks so much for stopping by!! Head on over to Elizabeth Wilson of It’s Still Life Photography’s blog by clicking HERE. You won’t want to miss her amazing images! And be sure to click through the rest of the blog circle!