Aspiring photographers!! Let’s talk about Lighting!!

It’s a big topic and I cannot cover it in 1 blog post but I think it’s something I wish was talked about on a more regular basis. It breaks my heart when I hear an aspiring photographer is using an automatic mode on their camera. Now, I completely understand the urge!! It’s a huge leap of faith from automatic to manual BUT it’s a change that altered the way that I take pictures. when I first began I let the camera do the work..and I would blame that camera when something went wrong. What I understand years later is that when you can take control of all of those awesome settings, you get results for every single picture you take…for lighting at least.

First, you have to PROMISE to try!!! I’m not asking for you to fully rely on manual settings yet but how will you know your potential unless you become the mind behind the camera. When I adjust settings at a photo session I use 3 adjustments for easy fixes. First, tell your clients you need a little time to take test shots. It could take 5 seconds or 45 seconds but your clients are not going to care. Slow down at your shoots!! You will get those amazing shots but you need the first few minutes to get ready…with your clients in the frame. This will help you get the correct lighting. As much as I love to prepare before the clients show up, you need to test their skin tones because every couple is going to be different.

The first thing I will do is play with my aperture. I have a 50 mm that I rely on like CRAZY and it’s a 1.4. Now if you have perfect lighting (AKA overcast) then I would say try and shoot at your 1.4 and adjust your ISO and shutter speed to compliment the aperture.

The hard part is that we don’t always have perfect lighting…very rarely do we have perfect lighting so it’s important to play around with settings to find your perfect fit for that moment. I usually jump 4 stops at a time. So if it is a REALLY sunny day and I have a 1.4 aperture I will jump to a 2.2 aperture. If I do another jump from there it will be a 3.5 aperture. Now when you do this you must test and change the ISO and shutter speed to match or achieve better lighting.

Here are some of my test shots. This was on a very sunny day. My aperture was a 1.4 and ISO 300.

I took a big jump and went to 3.5 aperture and 300 ISO. This was too dark for my taste and I personally love editing but not huge batches at a time. This is why I think it’s important to understand lighting. It’s easier to get your perfect lighting and do small edits rather than have horrible lighting and have to spend hours editing.

So I went down to a 2.8 aperture and a 250 ISO. That gave me the look I wanted before I even posed my couple. Then I began instructing them.

The hardest part is TRYING and once you get it you have such an amazing piece of equipment that you now understand how to use and you get to call the shots. 🙂 Again, every camera is different and every situation you take pictures in will change. This isn’t going to be what you do in every situation. Practice Practice Practice and keep playing with the settings 🙂