Light is everything { and why I stay away from the sun }

Class, get our your notebooks…because we are going to get our learn-on. I want my couples to know what I looking for when I’m walking around with them. And yes, I know that sometimes I look crazy. I’ve come to terms with it.

Rule #1.

Light is everything. Light makes photos what they are. Without the right amount of light a photo can be grainy or even worse, if their too much light then faces will have squinty eye shadows.

What I look for is soft, defused light. The sun is a light source, but I don’t want direct sunlight in any photos. I want the light to bounce off a few things before it hits my subject.

Let me try to explain it with a photo. The images below were taken at 1pm in downtown LA. Now. 1pm is normally NOT a good time to take a photo. The sun is overhead and gives people shadows under their eyes. The only reason this location/time worked is because we were lucky. It was overcast that day. Overcast=soft light. So the sun was defused by the clouds. The sun is directly behind them, so it’s lighting up the edges of their hair. This separates them from the background. Behind me, I had a huge grey wall. That wall was bouncing soft light back into their faces, making for a beautiful photo.

Light colored floors can also reflect light. This was taken around 3-4 pm. A better time for light, but still not in the golden hour. The light was still a little harsh, so I had Phillip turned away from the sun. The gravel floor in front of him was light in color, so the sunlight hit the floor and bounced back up into his face. Since the light bounced, it was softer and even. It also helped that I had him sit down, because he was closer to the ground and the light didn’t have to bounce so far. Since the light was stronger than if I had him stand, I was able to balance the light so you could see more of the background. The sun that was behind him lit up his hair, again…separating him from the background.

Also this is a tinny thing, but see that brighter spot on his shoulder? Well, the light hitting his shoulder bounced up into his face as well. You can see it in the little spot of shine on his left cheekbone. It makes for an even more interesting photo.

Now we are getting closer to the “golden hour”. You might of heard this phrase on other photographers websites. Most of the time this is the best time of day to take a photo. Its an hour or two before the sun goes down. Since the sun is so close to the horizon, it’s shining though the atmosphere. The atmosphere gives sunlight a golden glow and defuses it at the same time. The light isn’t as harsh as it was just an hour or two before hand AND its directional, so its easier to place the subject in a place with even light.

I just have to say, not all golden hours are created equal. If its a clear day with no clouds, I still don’t like to put my couples directly in the sun. Light can still be harsh. It’s just not as bad as if they stood outside at 1 pm.

Want to know why I brought all of this up? Last week I was photographing a small wedding at 1 pm in the full sun. This ceremony was overlooking the ocean…and the ocean was 1/2 mile away. It looked beautiful. But you couldn’t see the ocean, let alone the background in any of the photos. Wanna know why?

Most people don’t know our eyes and cameras see the world differently.

A camera can only see one/two different shades of light. That’s why HDR became so popular in the last few years, HDR is only possible by taking about 2-3 photos and placing them on top of each-other to mimic what our eyes actually see.

I never put my subject looking at the sun. Light becomes harsh, people squint, and it just isn’t flattering. So if I’m shooting anything during the middle of the day, I turn everyone away from the sun.  I change my camera settings to expose for their skin, but then the background is blown-out or bright. Beautiful ocean backgrounds are not in the photo. I know HOW to make everything the same exposure. It’s just not my style, and half the time the photos never have the same emotion in them.  At that point, location doesn’t matter, its all about light. So if there’s good light in an alleyway instead of a green grass field, wanna guess where the photos will be taken? Get ready to rock your urban side.

Its my job to make my couples look gooooood. Not the ocean or sky. 🙂

<3
Candice

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