This is Sarah reporting first with our next portrait series. I’ll explain the background of the shoot while Tim will explain some artistic and technical elements behind the scenes for any fellow photonerds out there.
The first thing I noticed about my friend Jen was her contagious smile and laughter. She is one of the sweetest people I know. She and her husband Moses make quite a fun pair whose love for each other is highly evident when they interact and who complement each other so well. So when they asked us to take their maternity portraits, we leaped at the chance. We love taking maternity photos; the exciting period of anticipation before a baby’s arrival is a very special time that we are honored to capture. This shoot took place in the middle of snowstorm season, but luckily the weather held out for our outdoor shots. As always, we had a lot of fun hanging out with Jen & Moses and am sure their baby will feel the same!
Hey everyone, Tim here. I thought some of you photo enthusiasts would be interested in the lighting behind these images. The more I started getting into the craft, the more I learned how to control every element in the picture.
Balancing Ambient and Flash
Ever since I first got into photography, I always strove to understand how to make flash unnoticeable. One key concept to master lies in using all the lights around you to craft your image. For starters, check the background lit with ambient room light in the last picture. If you notice, it has a light color, but it’s actually darker in value than our lovely couple. I intentionally exposed it darker using my in-camera settings. Doing so increased the contrast from their skin and clothes and strengthend the framing lines. To further separate them from the background, I placed the sun streaming in from the staircase window behind them so it would light their hair and shoulders:
Once I had those two ambient, available light levels exposed, I then placed my main light in front of them to the right and set the flash power to properly expose their skin:
Using the Background to Frame
After I finished that series, I thought the sweeping, ribbed lines in the staircase architecture would add drama to a portrait. Since I didn’t have much more space to move, I used a wide angle lens to use the ceiling and columns as a gazebo of sorts–even as a subtle crown to impart royal flair to the budding young family. I got down low to frame their heads with the window and to hopefully have it supply a nice rim light to their heads, but the effect didn’t show up so strongly. I generally view a centered placement of subjects’ faces as an artistic faux pas, but in this case I felt the placement anchored the balance between the pregnant belly and the ceiling:
A similar impulse led me to frame the picture below. I used the vertical centering on purpose to anchor the tension between the sharp, dramatic architecture and the organic, round nature of Jen’s belly. In a figurative sense, the hands seem to cradle the unborn child from the sharp exterior. On the lighting side of things, I first exposed to retain color in the sky and used appropriate flash power to expose their faces.
Capturing Spontaneity
Sometimes you can’t plan everything; reality happens so quickly that you have to shoot unscripted moments without thinking. However, careful preparation of the technical elements (your camera and light settings) and experience greatly aid in presenting the moments in satisfying ways. The next two shots (the first a repeat from the beginning) took place at the tail ends of the outdoor shoot while Sarah and I set up and tore down the flash. As they stood by in the frigid wind, they started clowning around:
I saw the moment and tried to use the background to frame the action as well as I could. I firmly squeezed the shutter down until the moment ended; the 10+ rapid fire shots guaranteed capture of the moment.
When we finished the shoot, their faces had looks of anticipation (most likely to get back inside) and fascination while Sarah tore down the flash. I thought it had a fashion magazine ad sort of feel and used the windows to frame/coronate Jen and the door frame to impart Moses a subtle halo. At least, that’s how I thought it looked at the time:
