February 20, 2012

Crazy Abundant Flare + some Philosophy + Weaponry :: Aliso Viejo Lifestyle Photography

This lighting in this place at this time of day (+ a secret ingredient I'll show you at the end) is pretty much my lighting love trifecta. My Littlest Dude with his "daggers" is just the cherry on top. Speaking of his weaponry ... Little Dude's school feeds him and his fellow students a regular diet of "truth, beauty & goodness" and regularly adds a dollop of "love your neighbor as yourself". But boys will be boys, and these are the "daggers" he fashioned from leftover lunch/pizza tins. Of course.

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The secret ingredient? Check out that incredibly bright spot of sun reflecting off the back wall of our porch (as shown in the last image). That natural reflector threw light back onto Littlest Dude's face and illuminated him despite all that incredibly bright backlighting behind him. Because he was illuminated from front and back, I didn't have to "blow out" the surrounding details and flare like I usually have to in order to light his face adequately. Natural reflectors: I highly recommend them. :-)

And stats: to help with flare definition, I removed my lens protector, stopped down the aperature (some pics are f/11, some are f/16), and shot with a zoom lens (24-70), mostly at the 24mm end.

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8 comments:

Kimberly June said...

Boys will be boys. Aint that the truth. Even if they've never seen a sword fight give them a tree branch and they are ready for battle.

Tracy P. said...

That flare is spectacular!

Shawntae said...

That. Is. Awesome. Thanks for the tips!

Unknown said...

I love this so much. Really, really, really LOVE : )

Andrea said...

Gorgeous flare! And thank you for the tips. I will definitely try this out!

dina said...

I LOVE your tips, your blog, your photography, your heart for Jesus! I perused your site for hours this morning while I nursed a sick daughter in bed. Wishing I lived in OC to meet with you and chat classical education and photography in person!

Anita Johnson said...

What a great idea, these photos explode with light!

stacey said...

FANTASTIC!!!!

I am obsessed with flare and capturing light. These are so so wonderful, Susan! When summer rolls around I am going to search high and low for a natural reflector of my own! :-)