Shoot Better |On Lighting (Part 2)

This post is part of a Shoot Better, weekly (ish) series on improving your photography frugally
(a.k.a. not buying tons of equipment.)

Last week, I wrote a post about how to get better lighting in your photographs, but mostly I talked about what NOT to do.

So this week, here are some basic ideas about what TO do.

Do shoot in the shade.

Remember how bad shooting in bright sunlight usually is?

More sunlight is not necessarily better, at least not in the middle of the day when the sun is high.

So, try to find a spot where there’s open shade.

midday on a sunny summer day, taken in the shade of a pool umbrella

What’s open shade?

Just a shady outdoor spot that will give you more even, less harsh light.

For instance, a shady side of a building, the overhang on a porch, or a large beach umbrella will provide enough shade for you to take a better photo.

(taken in the middle of the day in July, on a side of the yard where there’s some shade)

Do shoot early or late in the day.

The hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset are called the golden hours because of the warm, soft light they provide.

taken early on a summer morning

When the sun is high in the sky, it’s at its harshest.

But in the early and late hours of the day, the sun is farther down in the sky and provides gentler, more even light.

Luckily for me, we did our Easter egg hunt this year late in the day, so I had pretty decent light to work with, even though it was getting a bit dark outside.   😉

So, if you’re presented with the opportunity, take pictures early or late in the day.

Do shoot under cloudy skies.

Many people think cloudy skies are useless for photography, but that’s not so.

Here’s why:

Above the clouds, the sun is shining brightly, but the clouds act as a giant diffuser, evenly spreading the harsh sunlight out over the world.

So, when the sky is cloudy, you can shoot anywhere, even in mid-day, and not have to worry about harsh shadows, squinty eyes, and odd colors.

(In fact, sometimes colors are at their most saturated and beautiful on cloudy days.)

Do shoot near a window.

If you can’t be outdoors, use window light! Positioning your subject near a window often gives you enough light to shoot without a flash.

I shoot almost all of my food pictures on the floor near my sliding glass door, actually.

One caveat: try not to shoot directly into a window. The bright light from the window will confuse your camera and will usually make your photo too dark. Instead, position yourself with your back to the window or your side to the window.

In this first shot, the light from behind Zoe is really overpowering, and Zoe herself is too dark.

For this one, I turned her on the couch so that the window is to her left and my right.

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I know this might seem like a lot to think about, but really, once you practice noticing light, it becomes more like second-nature.

Now, as you know, I’m a big fan of photographing kids in their natural environment, doing their natural thing, and I like to avoid posing when possible.

So, you might be wondering how in the world you can manage to take unposed photos of people (especially kids) in good light, because moving them to the good light would sort of ruin the unposed nature of the photos.

I’ve had lots of practice with this, so for next week, I’ve got a whole post full of tips for taking unposed photos of kids.

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Any questions?     Let me know in the comments!