Natural light and portraits
Written on February 12th, 2012
One of the best (and worst) things about good natural light is, it’s so difficult to find and utilise, especially in the colder months. You can plan to spend a day out taking photos or a great photoshoot in the woods, and the weather might totally ruin what you were aiming for. Of course you can use artificial light and editing technique to make the best of a bad situation, but for me nothing beats the excitement of finding perfect natural light and the results you can get from it.
This weekend I went along with my friend and bride to be Katie as she tried on wedding dresses. I’m going to be the photographer at her wedding so it was nice to be there as she found her perfect dress with the guidance of her bridesmaids and family.
When we left the shop I noticed some amazing light beaming down the street near the car park. It was one of those rare chances I didn’t want to miss so I grabbed one of the girls, Kym Sisson, and made her stand in the middle of the road for me. I got some really nice shots in between dodging oncoming traffic and after some light processing I had photographs that I was pleased with. I needed this!
Kym told me she rarely likes photographs of her that she didn’t take herself, but she actually does on this occasion. As a lot of my portraits are spontaneous, candid and unposed, the best thing about portraiture for me is definitely getting the thumbs up from your subjects. There is nothing better than making someone feel good about themselves because of the photo you took of them.
