My sis and her hubby want me to take some photos of them and their puppies. They want to do them in a park or near a lake or something similar and I've never really done anything like that. So I thought I'd ask around for a few hints.
* Will the sun provide enough light or will I need some fill flash?
* Where should I position the sun?
* Any certain filters I should use? (I have an ND, UV, and Polarizer)
Anything else you can think of would be much appreciated. Thanks.
(I'll be using my Sony F707 because they want to get prints and the photos on a CD as well.)
If you can you want to scout out the location before hand, so that you have a good idea of complementary backgrounds, shadows etc. These are backgrounds that aren't going to clash with your subjects and if possible will be seamless/ cover the whole frame of your camera when you have your subjects in place. I think finding good backgrounds and composing these well is one of the biggest improvements you can make on portraits and it just requires a little bit of thought.
The best time of day for this sort of thing is the last couple of hours of daylight or the first couple of hours of daylight, when the sun takes on a much warmer, less harsh tone.
I wouldn't bother using filters.
If you time it right (ie. late enough in the day, you probably wont need fill flash. You might want to get a screen and bounce some light back into the face though.
This is a test shot I took last night with natural light No flash, bounced light or any additional work, straight from the camera, taken just before the sun dipped under the treeline. Note the pretty even lighting and the rimlight effect the sun creates in the model's hair.
* If it's a sunny day there should be more light than you necessarily want. :-> If you take shots under a tree, for example, or otherwise in shade, you might want a fill flash.
* I'm pretty sure you don't get to position the sun. :-> Position the *dogs* so the light falls on them in the same way you might in a studio - or in a way that puts the shadows where you want them and doesn't give you too much glare. Remember, top-down and full-front lighting are probably the two most unflattering.
* I can't use filters, so I'm completely ignorant on the subject.
Additional suggestion: be careful of busy backgrounds. I'd say find the place and angle you want to shoot (making sure to get grass, sky, a brick wall, or something like that in the background), and then futz with the dogs for lighting angles.
I agree with the evening light it can make the eyes stand out and the coats of the pups look very nice,
dixie I also like taking pics in the shade to avoid the squinty eyes but would use a warming filter to avoid the bluish tone as seen here...
(excuse the blurryness) mom and son I like the sun in the back to get some natural hair light and would suggest taking a few with fill flash to get 'catch lights' in the eyes, this may make the puppies eyes look wonky not sure
catchlights also make sure shutter speed is fast enought to avoid blur like my shots LOL
Here's a tip that was given to us at school from an outdoor photographer. Normally when shooting outdoors there is a wide exposure range i.e. there is a big difference between the shadows and highlights. Too much of a difference is bad because your images will have either blown out areas or very very dark areas. To try to eliminate some of the too bright or too dark areas try to position the people near what he called a "light absorbing wall". So basically anything that is going to absorb a little light or keep the light from being too directional. Beside a fence (and it doesn't have to be IN the picture either), near some trees, under a tree (you still have to watch out for bright spots in the distance) beside a hill or something that is going to minimize one area of light. If you have people standing in a field you get directional light and bounce back from the atmosphere in the empty space beside the people. If you use a blocker (trees,etc.) you absorb some of the excess light so you effectively soak up some of the exposure range.
I agree with the evening light it can make the eyes stand out and the coats of the pups look very nice,
dixie I also like taking pics in the shade to avoid the squinty eyes but would use a warming filter to avoid the bluish tone as seen here...
(excuse the blurryness) mom and son I like the sun in the back to get some natural hair light and would suggest taking a few with fill flash to get 'catch lights' in the eyes, this may make the puppies eyes look wonky not sure
catchlights also make sure shutter speed is fast enought to avoid blur like my shots LOL
