TIP OF THE WEEK - Shooting in Direct Sun

Yikes!  I nearly forgot about my promise yesterday to post the TIP OF THE WEEK today. It's nearly midnight here, and now I'd better get my bum in gear!! Now, that's dedication for you.

Ok, so the tip for this week...
I've been avoiding shooting in mid day sun like the plague until I learned a very important tip - 
(Drum roll please.... )

If you're shooting in  bright mid day, direct sunlight, turn your subject so she's standing IN FRONT of the sun.

In other words, the sun should be BEHIND your subject. I always thought that you, as the photographer, wanted to the sun behind you. Turns out, that's not true. If you have soft, even light, like at sunset, then yes, that light will rock your world. During the day, though, you want to rotate your subject, otherwise you're bound do get squinty eyes and shadows that are very unflattering.

This was actually taken pretty late in the afternoon, but check out the shadows under her eyes. It makes her eyes seem hallowed.

SO, turn your subject away from the sun, and spot meter of her face. This will dazzle you. I swear.

See how much better her face looks? There was a bit of light bouncing back up off the table which evened it out nicely.

Ok, how cute is she?! And look! No dark shadows.

And these are later in the day, but I just love back light, so I'm posting a few that I thought were super cute.

Bella's fashion sense. I love it!

 There you go, my friends. I hope this is useful to some of you. Have a wonderful weekend! Take it easy and keep on clickin' on! ; )

Improv in Photography

This week our assignment in my photography class is to continue taking pictures in the mid day sun, using the sun as back light, but now we're to use a reflector. Unfortunately, I don't have a reflector, so instead I found a white table cloth to do the trick. Improvisation can work wonders!

I don't think I've ever loved any piece of clothing as much as I love Bella's rainbow leggings.

Yesterday around 11:30 am, I went out on a walk with Alex and the girls in tow. The sun was shinning, the kids were in good spirits and Alex was game to help me by holding the table cloth. While  I messed around, trying to get the perfect shot, moving up and down and then waiting for that ONE moment, Alex began to get antsy. He stayed for about five shots and then decided to go on a run. There I was with the two girls, a table cloth and the mid day sun. No problem! I found a spot right in front of some hedges in some nice, lush, hyper-color green grass. Julietta is pretty eager to get out of the stroller just to explore, touch the grass and pick up the leaves and twigs...etc, so I put her down and tadaaa! Instant baby model. Her innate curiosity makes me nervous, of course, so in addition to all the stuff I have to think about while shooting, I have to make sure my kid doesn't choke on anything.

She's showing off her little blades of grass that she happened to find.

Setting up the "reflector" must have been a sight to see. I tried to throw it over my shoulder, like a toga, then I laid it over by body and stretched it all the way down to my foot. Since I was shooting my kids, I had to get down at their level, so I got down toward the ground with it laying over my leg and I put that leg forward while I squatted on the other (are you getting a mental picture?). Not the most comfortable position, but I did what I had to do!

This one doesn't REALLY fulfill the assignment, but I did use a my table cloth (see the reflection in her eyes?)

Bella was unusually helpful with the shoot and actually sat still for a few minutes. That was when I got my favorite shots. It's amazing the shots you can get when your subject will just sit still!!

Tomorrow I will post the TIP OF THE WEEK: Shooting in the Direct Sun. Until then, keep on clickin'!