Thought this might interest some people on here...in terms of how to use a location to your advantage for portraits.
Here's the garden:
Anything inspiring there? Well, the white panel stood out for a start, a bit of +ev would have that looking very studio-like. The gate caught my eye, as did the wooden bench seat that's holding the gate shut.
To my right is a ploughed field and to the left is the house; an old farmhouse that could do with a lick of paint.
So, here's what I did...
Take the bench seat into the field, no other horizon apart from the field, which I liked:
That white piece of wood? Yup, subject crouching down in front of it, natural light, bit of +ev and some nice golden evening light. No reflectors or anything used here, just nice soft light diffused by a bit of cloud cover:
The gate - that stood out. I got a few decent shots showing more of the gate itself, but in the end settled for this one as I liked the expression:
And the house, which I don't have a wide shot of, but I saw the windows and thought they would make an interesting shot:
And the door into the house, set into the white wall:
I thought this set might inspire some people to look more at what's around them and to use their surroundings when shooting. It's very easy not to see these things. And it's not just what you have around you to frame the shot with, it's also about how these things prompt interaction with the subject. The gate for instance, was the perfect look-out for the little girl and it was cute how she'd opened the gate to watch the dog running round the field.
Dave
ETA: Apologies for the sensor dust
Here's the garden:
Anything inspiring there? Well, the white panel stood out for a start, a bit of +ev would have that looking very studio-like. The gate caught my eye, as did the wooden bench seat that's holding the gate shut.
To my right is a ploughed field and to the left is the house; an old farmhouse that could do with a lick of paint.
So, here's what I did...
Take the bench seat into the field, no other horizon apart from the field, which I liked:
That white piece of wood? Yup, subject crouching down in front of it, natural light, bit of +ev and some nice golden evening light. No reflectors or anything used here, just nice soft light diffused by a bit of cloud cover:
The gate - that stood out. I got a few decent shots showing more of the gate itself, but in the end settled for this one as I liked the expression:
And the house, which I don't have a wide shot of, but I saw the windows and thought they would make an interesting shot:
And the door into the house, set into the white wall:
I thought this set might inspire some people to look more at what's around them and to use their surroundings when shooting. It's very easy not to see these things. And it's not just what you have around you to frame the shot with, it's also about how these things prompt interaction with the subject. The gate for instance, was the perfect look-out for the little girl and it was cute how she'd opened the gate to watch the dog running round the field.
Dave
ETA: Apologies for the sensor dust
