Rachel Coleman Photography: Backyard Becky

This is going to be a longer post because this is the first time I was able to
use my new lighting equipment for portraits and I wanted to describe
(mostly for my own reference) what different types of lighting I used for
each photo.

So, if the technical side of photography does not interest you
then just ignore all the words, keep scrolling down and enjoy some hot shots of Rebekah.

These are my favorites of the photo shoot (none of the photos are edited)

This was a fun photo shoot because Rebekah was such a great sport in
letting me take my time and being patient, especially when I kept
shining the gold reflector in her eyes.
Rebekah even played some songs on the ukulele and did a
one woman show of the musical "Wicked."

I used Syl Arena's book, "Lighting for Digital Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots",
as a reference for using different lighting techniques.
I did three types of shots: in direct sunlight, using sun as rim light and in open shade.

Scene 1: Direct Sunlight
Syl Arena recommends when shooting in direct sunlight to:

A) Diffuse Sunlight
I used a light stand and arm to attach a diffusion panel (part of the Neewer 5in1
110cm Reflector kit) about 6 inches above Rebekah's head.

Unfortunately, I accidentally erased the photos of Rebekah before I used the diffusion
panel, to compare, but you can definitely tell, due to the lack of harsh shadows or highlights that
the light is diffused (see figure 1.1).

B) Bounce sunlight into the shadows
I wanted to increase light on her face but didn't want to have to increase my ISO or
or take my aperture down too much so I used my white reflector in my Neewer 5in1 kit to
add some natural light (see figure 1.2).

Sorry that the captions are not right under the photo. I had some formatting issues

Figure 1.1 (1/250 sec. F/8 ISO 400) Figure 1.2 (1/250 sec. F/8 ISO 250)

I liked the photo with the reflector but I didn't like that her eyes were still dark and squinted.

She has big beautiful blue eyes so I decided to use a flash to help accentuate her eyes.

C) Filling shadows with flash
I knew direct light from the flash on her face would create harsh, unflattering shadows, so
I set my YN560-III Speedlite through my Fotodiox softbox, and positioned it on the right side of
my camera (see Figures 1.3-1.5).

Figure 1.3 (1/160 sec. F/11 ISO 200)

this seems a little too bright

Figure 1.4 (1/160 sec. F/11 ISO 160)

softbox moved back a few inches

Figure 1.5 (1/125 sec. F/11 ISO 160)

This is my favorite. I had to keep

tweaking my ISO and shutter because

the sun kept moving behind clouds.

Scene 2: Using sun as rim light
Arena suggests using the sun as the rim light (behind the subject) to add highlights to the hair
and depth to the entire photo.

A) Sun at 135 degree angle
He suggests to "put the sun behind subject at...an angle of 135 degrees.

B) Do not overexpose/dim ambient light (see Figure 2.1)
He suggests to adjust the ambient light by increasing shutter speed or increasing ISO
The two main reasons why dimming ambient light is helpful is because:
1) It can help a messy background go away "so that the viewer concentrates
on the subject."
2) It helps the rim light to pop out.

C) Use a flash as a key light
I used my speedlite through my Fotodiox softbox as the key (main) light and
positioned it to the right of the camera (see Figure 2.2).

***PROBLEM:
Unfortunately I could not increase my shutter on my Canon 6D above 1/160 sec.
because my YN568EXII Speedlite, which allows the camera to use a shutter above
1/160 sec., when it is set to high-speed sync (HSS), was not communicating with
the other speedlite I used as my key light.

D) Decide if you need a fill light
I used the sun to bounce light from the gold reflector back onto her face (see Figure 2.3).

Figure 2.1 (1/160 sec. F/11 ISO 160)

No diffusion panel, notice rim light on hair

*** background too bright and distracting

Figure 2.2 (1/160 sec. F/11 ISO 125)

Key light looks good but background is too distracting

Figure 2.3 (1/160 sec. F11 ISO 160) gold reflector

Gold reflector warms her face

Scene 3: Open Shade
This is my favorite scene because I was able to use the diffused sunlight as the key light,
which gives the photos a more natural look.

I don't have a lot to explain about the process I took to create these photos because,
in contrast to shooting in direct sunlight, the lighting didn't shift much.

Figure 3.1
In this scene Rebekah is standing about 6 inches inside the doorway of the shed.
This photo is not very interesting in terms of dynamic range because
Rebekah blends with the background and the image looks flat.

1/200 sec. F/8 ISO 400

Open shade

Figure 3.2
I liked the lighting in the background though, where you could see a little detail inside the shed,
so I decided to keep my camera settings the same and use my speedlite through the Fotodiox as
a fill light.

Figure 3.3
I pulled the speedlite back about 6 inches and adjusted the flash brightness.

Figure 3.4
I did a longer shutter but it looked too washed out and the background seemed too light.

Then we just got crazy

Finally Finished
Rebekah ended up doing a model pose (looking over shoulder) and taking a few steps back
further into the shed and this is what ended up as our final shots.
I love them