Photo TIPS! ~ Fill Light

Today I will be talking about Fill Light! The last post talked about "The Golden Hours" (pretty holy stuff) and I mentioned fill light when talking about the effects of the morning and evening sunlight (The Golden Hours). The light from these times of day seems to envelope the subject from multiple directs because the main light (sun light) is not so powerful as too outmatch the Fill light. Well, what is fill light?

Fill light is soft (softer than the main light) light that is used to expose the features of a subject that might be hidden by the shadows created by the main light (the main source of where the light is coming from, ex: sunlight, light bulb, etc.). In portrait photography fill light very often comes from a reflector.

This is a light reflector. It is positioned at an angle
that will help redirect the light (that is not heading towards
the subject) towards the subject. This will help light up
multiple sides of the object. 

A reflector can be many things: a wall (preferably light colored walls, dark colors absorb to much of the light unless the subject is right against the wall), a table, a ceiling, and many other surfaces that redirect light in a desired direction. 

Some photographers use flashes in order to create fill light. Flashes can be positioned in multiple angles, and some can even be shot independent of the actual camera. One example of using Flash as fill light is when I took the picture of the baby below. This picture was taken under a 10x10 beach tent at night. I did not want to much light coming from one direction to hit the babies face so I angled the flash directly upwards. By doing so, the light from the flash bounced off the tent's ceiling and so the entire tent became a huge light box. By examining the picture you will see little, too none, notable shadows that are over powering (the background is dark because I took this outside during the night and so the amount of light inside the tent drained out the visible objects in the background, and a low f/stop also helped). 

Bounce light is VERY useful, especially during portrait photography. So make sure to be aware of it's usefulness and how to best control it. Observe your surroundings for possible "reflectors" (i.e. walls, tables, flat surfaces) and be creative with light sources and when to take pictures (refer to my "The Golden Hours" post).

If you have any questions about my pictures, posts, or photography over all send me a message or comment below (comments are preferred since they may serve the purpose of answering the question for everyone with similar questions.) and remember SUBSCRIBE!

Keep Snappin',ravimi

Photo and Personal Style

This picture was part of  my first big profit job. The model wanted some pictures taken by me because he liked my personal philosophy of capturing the person for who they are, and he also enjoyed my pictures he had seen. Knowing his personality I decided it would be nice to have an outdoors photoshoot with strong colors (as shown by the strong blue sky and yellow shirt) and strong energy being radiated by the model. We went out to a nearby dock since it was far away from trees and buildings that could get in the way of the framing. We also started the shoot in the afternoon, around 5-6pm, so that the sun was close to the horizon while still maintaining enough light for the picture (this is referred to as the "Golden Hours", I will go over this in a future tutorial).

The model has a strong body figure, he is very fit and has had experience with modeling professionally so I decided to give him a look that showed his strength and inner power. I took the picture from below to make him appear larger than life and made sure that his elbows would not fall outside of the frame while maintaining a tight composition that also pushed the idea of his thin figure. The negative space (refers to the empty space) helps bring out the idea of internal strength/spiritual power (I will go over the use of Negative space in a future tutorial). And lastly I always made sure to help him give off a feeling of strength accompanied by a relaxed aura. 

If you have any questions about my pictures or photography over all send me a message or comment below (comments are preferred since they may serve the purpose of answering the question for everyone who sees it.)

Keep Snappin',

ravimi

    ISO 100

    1/2500 shutter speed

    2.8 Aperture

    50mm

   This is another picture I took that day.  

    ISO 100

    1/125 Shutter speed

    7.1 Aperture

    50mm

    

Photo TIPS! ~ Photography Equipment; when to buy it.

When I started photography as a hobby (as something that I actually decided to give time too) I began with a Casio EX FH100.

Cool stuff :)

It's a point and shoot camera that I spent MONTHS researching because I had a budget, and I knew if I was going to buy something that I was going to make into a hobby then it was going to be the most bang for the buck. Anyways this camera served me well, so well it last me about 5 months. I'm not being sarcastic. This Point-n-Shoot camera opened the doors of the photographic world to me. I took it EVERYWHERE and for those 5 months I took more than  10 thousand pictures. I used it so much that I joined my schools yearbook team and actually became the unofficial school photographer [I was allowed to carry my camera in my hands and take pictures whenever I wanted without any words from the teachers. Cameras weren't allowed during school at my school (like cellphones) so it was kind of a biggish deal].

Now why does this matter to you? Well my point (no pun intended) is that even though I had a regular little Point-n-Shoot camera I used it as if I was using a top of the line piece of equipment. I used it knowing that I was not ready for the VERY (relatively) expensive  DSLR I now own, but I knew that when I would "outgrow" the PnS it would be time for me to go to the next level. That moment was 5 months after I got the Casio. I started feeling limited by the Aperture settings, the frame size, the speed, and lack of control I now understood I would have in a DSLR.

Awesome to own, but not so awesome for the pockets ;)

Cameras and photography equipment can be extremely expensive. It is very important to know when it is time to go to the next level, and sometimes even when that time comes you may not have the money for the equipment. So in order to make sure you have that money sooner rather than later, only buy things you know you will use very often and will chip away the limitations you feel are present.
Consider what the equipment will be used for, why you need it, if there is something that may serve the same purpose and cost cheaper, and if you will actually want to use it (this is a very big factor; the more you desire to use it, the more chances it has in paying for itself).

It's been almost a year and I now own a DSLR with 2 lenses, one cost me an amazing $125 dollars (canon 50mm 1.8 lens. Lenses can cost in the thousands so a very good lens for under $150 is amazing) and the other was given to me as a gift by another photographer. I also have a flash that cost me $250, but I also spent about 1.5 months researching flashes after I realized I needed one (especially since I was doing event photography at night for 2000 people).

Some examples of saving money on things you may need are:
-Use display boards as a reflector (can cost maybe $1) instead of a $30-$80 reflector.
-Use bed sheets as a background rather than using those expensive rolls of cloth (can cost a lot).
-Get a friends help during a photoshoot instead of paying for an assistant. I have a lot of friends that help me out and in return I take a couple of pictures of them and give it to them for free.
-If you get to the point where you want to show off your pictures to the world use free internet services like Facebook, Google+, and other places)
-Always have an eye on your surroundings, a piece of wood on the ground may serve as your next background, a piece of white paper can be used as a reflector, and even a couple of bricks can help raise your eye level without the need of a ladder.

If you have any questions, comments, or answers make sure to comment below or pop me an email.

I took this while standing on a brick.
The shadow under the flower is actually a fence so
I needed something to see over the fence.

Keep Snappin',
ravimi