Becky Earl – be ART

Just sharing some hints and tricks to try and remember next time you are out shooting. All of these go along with the post above, where I shot in many different lighting situations….

First tip- Change your ANGLES

Look at the difference in the shot (same shot) but changing my angle changed the entire feel of the shot…The first image, I was standing level to my model. In the next shot, I laid on the ground on my side and shot up at her. It takes away most of the distracting mountains, lake bed and even her shadow. The second shot is absolutely stronger, yet has an airy, free feeling to it.

Here is another example of how changing an angle can entirely change a picture…

neither are right or wrong, just totally different.

One shot I was level to her, then next I dropped to ground and shot up at her. Even just the sky changed dramatically.

Get it? So next time try taking a shot and changing angles all around and see what you get. Try shooting down on your subject, to the side…the possibilities are endlesssss

Second tip- Don’t fear the SUN. not.one.more.day!

What do photographers and vampires have in common? They both think they will DIE a certain death if they step into the light. Now we know the actual truth to this…vampires actually sparkle (oh Edward my love) and photographers can take some amazing shots using that big scary ball of fire…

Some scenarios that work beautifully with full sun…

Baby got Backlight!

Is there anything more heavenly, more dreamy then some good backlight? I think NOT!

One big tip for shooting in backlight situations?
-Set your metering mode to SPOT. Meter off your subjects face and make sure you expose a little to the right. It’s important that their face in correctly exposed. It’s okay to blow out the light in the back. I think that’s what adds to the prettiness.

-Haze is great in backlit shots (in my humble opinion) It adds to the dreaminess of it. So don’t go and add a bunch of contrast to your shot to get rid of it. Embrace it. Love it.

Next…

Off camera flash for the natural light snob (it’s cool, I used to be one) nothing but love folks!!!
Really though. You can use the sun as you would artificial light…except you obviously can’t move it around…

It can create beautiful flattering shadows. Shadows are not evil. They are beautiful and add lovely dimension to a persons face.

What are shadows you want to look for?
The ones under the chin, that can totally thin out a face. A nice sliver of shadow under the nose…make sure it’s not too big and reaches the mouth. Lovely shadows under cheek bones are great too.

Avoid shadows under the eyes.

You can expose for the person, light them nicely, and still get a nice blue sky behind them…

So what’s the trick?

Use the nice and lovely sunset sun and not the harsh mean ol’ noonday sun.

If you use the sun at sunset, you will notice many awesome things. The light is nice and golden. The light is angled perfectly so that it lights your subject face on (and a little above) so it again creates nice shadows on the face. And somehow someway you can get that nice big blue sky.

The only hard things is, the sun is still pretty strong so it can still hurt your subjects eyes to look directly at you. Which is why most of my shots like this are angled down with my model looking elsewhere as not to burn her eyes. We don’t want burnt eyes. Not a good thing.

Once you get out in the full sun, turn your subject in a full circle. Look for the nice light in the eyes. Look where the shadows fall. Are they flattering or are they harsh and icky?

Third tip- Aint no sunshine when she’s gone…
What to do once the suns gone down…

UP THAT ISO!!!

This entire series were shot after the sun had set behind the mountain (all natural light). I had lost a lot of light and had to change those settings. My ISO went up to 1250. Downside of that…lots of grain. Upside to that…I don’t mind grain. haha

One tip for shooting with high ISO’s??? Overexpose. It will lessen your grain. When I meter with high ISO’s my little ticker is almost all the way to the right. You still will get grain, but not as much.

Also, even though the sun had went behind the mountain, I still faced her towards the light. If I had turned her back, she would have lost most of that light in her eyes. So just remember even though the sun is behind that mountain, or building, or whatever..still face them to the light!

Fourth tip- Dress to Impress!

None of these pictures would have turned out as well as they did, had Missy been wearing jeans and a tshirt. As cute as jeans and a tshirt can be on a normal day, it just wouldn’t have worked here. As you can see with each outfit, it changed the entire feel of the shots.

With the first ones with the cream dress and blue scarf…they outfit created a light, freeing feel to them. The shots just wouldn’t have been the same if she were wearing something funky or boring.

When we wanted funky we had her change into her pink skirt with her crazy cool tights. It immediately changed her attitude and the feelings in the shots. Her poses automatically became stronger, sassier and with much more att.ti.tude! They wouldn’t have worked with her cream dress on. They wouldn’t have worked with jeans and some cute heels.

You get the idea…I don’t need to go through the other looks. But just try to remember when you are going to get your picture taken, remember that clothing can truly make or break your images.

If you are wanting a vintage look and feel to your images, then you have to look the part. Get a vintage looking dress, do your hair and makeup in that style. And WORK IT!!!!

Hope these hints, tips, crazy ramblings of mine have helped or if not at least made you giggle a bit. baby got backlight? come on? a little funny? haha

Thanks friends!

Chisses!

♥ be