Natural Lighting Family photos - Comments please

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

01/26/2007 02:42:35 PM · #1

Okay - took these today. Around noon.
Lighting is from a large east-facing window.
Background is a blue flannel bed sheet.
Kids are sitting on a small stool.

And if anyone can tell me why - every time I use "Save for Web" I lose brightness and sharpness in my photos, I'd be grateful.

idnic

Canon EOS-60D

01/26/2007 03:22:15 PM · #2

In each of the shots you posted the first thing that catches my eye is the wrinkled backdrop -- if you can't put more space between your subject & background because of space constraints then you should definitely iron the backdrop so its not so distracting. Secondly, they aren't quite sharp. Hitting "sharpen" once before you save for web, but after you resize should help you retain the sharpness better, but these actually look sharper on the backdrop than the subject which tells me your focus may have been off just a touch. The window lighting is nice and the intensity of it on all but the first one is good (bit blown on the first).

01/27/2007 08:46:12 AM · #3

I think I need to find something permanently ironed or flat to keep on hand - when the kids decide they'll sit for photos there isn't time to stop and iron a sheet.

That wrinkly background does me in a LOT around here.

About the sharpening - I notice I lose a significant amount of sharpness (and brightness/contrast as well) when I do the "Save for Web"

01/27/2007 12:04:10 PM · #4

Had my light been over behind the camera (or to the left of the camera) it would have made that side of her face much brighter, much stronger, much more prominent. But from this angle, the broad side of her face looks less prominent. In effect, she appears to be more slender.

Message edited by author 2007-01-27 12:06:03.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

01/27/2007 12:08:50 PM · #5

My point is, even with natural light you can still control the direction of the light by the angle of the face and by the angle of the camera to the face.

DjFenzl

01/27/2007 01:01:09 PM · #6

Originally posted by dwterry:

Here's a tip taught to me by a master of portraiture. If you want to make a skinny person look larger, shoot into the highlight side of the face. If you want to make a larger person look skinnier, shoot into the shadow side of the face. And the fact is, in most cases, shooting into the shadow side of the face will produce an image that the "average person" will appreciate more.

Here is an example of what I mean about shooting into the shadow side of the face:

Had my light been over behind the camera (or to the left of the camera) it would have made that side of her face much brighter, much stronger, much more prominent. But from this angle, the broad side of her face looks less prominent. In effect, she appears to be more slender.

That's a really cool tip, I hadn't hearrd that before. hmmmm... I wonder if there's a way to effectively make that work on a group shot...

loriprophoto

Canon EOS-20D

01/27/2007 01:19:11 PM · #7

Okay here is my take on it, I am by no means a portrait specialist this is just how I perceive the light in these shots. They all look as if you had them side on to the window which would leave the 2 to 3 stops difference in one side of the face to the other. If you are shooting available light I would have gone with a lighter background to help you bounce or direct as much light back onto the subject. I would have had them facing the window more straight?three quarters on to avoid the shadows in all the wrong places. The children's ones all seem to have focus issues as well. You could have opened the lens a stop or so too as the children look a bit underexposed.

Hope this helps.

01/27/2007 01:28:57 PM · #8

Originally posted by dwterry:

My previous post was, of course, a studio shot. You can see the umbrella reflection in her eyes. So, knowing that you were using natural light... here's another sample image taken from my dining room. I put up a blue backdrop. But the light you see is from a large window to my left with a sheet covering it to soften the light.

My point is, even with natural light you can still control the direction of the light by the angle of the face and by the angle of the camera to the face.

This looks amazing - I will definitely give this a try. Thank you.

01/27/2007 01:31:16 PM · #9

Originally posted by loriprophoto:

Yes, the kids were side-on to the window. The backdrop was the closest sheet I could grab in a hurry while the kids were willing to play "pictures" for me (No, I obviously didn't think this through ahead of time).

I'll try next time getting them to face more to the window. I did underexpose ( -2 on my camera ) because the light was quite harsh and I don't have a while sheet to use as a filter (or anyway to hang it if I did - but that's another thread all together).

01/27/2007 01:42:47 PM · #10

Originally posted by Megatherian:

That's a really cool tip, I hadn't hearrd that before. hmmmm... I wonder if there's a way to effectively make that work on a group shot...

Group shots are always a lot more difficult, lighting wise. I mean, you have several challenges... what works good for one face doesn't work good for another, and when you have more than one person in the image, they may impact the light on one another (causing shadows).

Here's an (unedited) example of a shot I took last Saturday:

As you can see, the left side of their faces (right side of image) is slightly in shadow. That's because my main light is off to camera left. This at least gives me 3D light to work with (straight-on lighting would have flattened their faces). And the shadows, again, help define the size of the face. So, at least to a small degree, I'm getting the same effect here.

I think I still have a lot to learn on lighting and posing in general, but groups are still my biggest challenge.