I had an impromptu photo session with my daughter Emalie this morning. She was having fun with her bear running around our empty living room which we'd just painted and I was in the process of cleaning. I'd always wondered how the light in this room would look for portraits. It has a large, north-facing window and a sliding glass door facing west. In the world of studio set-up and natural light, north-facing windows are considered the best. The light remains consistent throughout the day as the sun travels its path from sunrise to sunset with no effects of harsh, direct sunlight shining through. Today, I finally was able to test my theory since, literally, there was a blank canvas where furniture would normally reside. I asked Emalie to sit next to the wall in the empty space between the window and the sliding glass door. She scooted her little bottom flat against the wall, and I took the first photo. As in with artificial lights (flashes, strobes, etc), the light source coming from one direction caused a shadow on the other side of her head on the wall. Cute smile, cute pose, cute bear, but I'm not a fan of the shadow.
I asked Emalie to move away from the wall a few feet (of course, you have to show a preschooler who has no idea of what a 'foot' is where you mean). Keeping the same distance from the window, I shot the next photo. As you can see, the shadow no longer falls on the wall. However, the shadow side of Emalie's face is more prominent because we've lost some of the light coming from in front of her from the window. She's now positioned in the middle of the length of the window, so some of the light is now falling behind her. (Had I used a reflector in front of her, opposite the window, it would have reflected light back into her face and opened up those shadows nicely. But, when working with a little one, had I taken the time to go get a reflector she may have decided this wasn't so much fun after all!) I prefer this second photo to the first one.
In this image, Emalie has turned her face, by her own doing, in the direction of the window. As you can see, the shadows from the above photo are not as prominent now. Her face is turned toward the direction of the light source (the window) providing for more even illumination.
This is what happens when you get too close to the light source-- bright lights and dark shadows. The left side of her face is overexposed in stark contrast to the shadows of her hair on the opposite side.
This last photo is all about the fun. If you read my previous post about the fox, this follows-on with the continuous shooting concept. I fixed my focus and continuously pressed the shutter release button. The result was a wonderful series of shots such as this one. Each photo had a subtle difference, either in her facial expression or the placement of her hands. Any of them would have sufficed, but given options, I was able to choose my favorite. Every time I look at this photo, I will hear her sweet little voice saying, "I just can't stop laughing!". And that, folks, is what it's all about!
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