Remember - I don't normally take portraits unless it's for family. They understand I'm not pro, and they don't see that there's 100 mistakes in my photos. BUT - a part of me wishes I could do them better.

Lighting - I suck at it and have no equipment. I like to do this only in OUTDOORS because the light situation for me is not good. Lighting is important, yes, but in outdoor photography, you can't help the natural shadows - unless photos are taken on a cloudy day (even then there are shadows) - or a flash used? *vomit*

So, is there any advice out there? I took some shots today, can't show them right now because my battery died, but I'll post the better ones and see what you guys think.

The only lenses I have are the 50mm or the 70-200. Personally, I like the 70-200 because it seems sharper, and I don't need 1.8f stop.

Oh yes you can help with the natural shadows even when photographing in a harsh mid-day sun. Theres a few ways you can help it.

- Shoot in front of a north facing building.

- Shoot in open shade

- Use a 1-2 stop diffuser and then a gold/ silver reflector to add some fill light to the undereyes and underchins. I personally use a lastolite trigrip soft gold and soft silver and i love that better then solids.

- Use your flash for fill but have it pointed straight up and use your palm to "color-balance" and bounce the light towards your subject.

And yes, use the 70-200. I personally like shooting in the 135mm range but some people do prefer 300mm range.

Eek gave you some really good advice.
I will add: over-exposed backgrounds (near-absolute white) isn't bad. Try to get away from nature-shot mode and focus on what really matters: the people.
If you ever get flash, try bouncing your fill flash from a large area such as a wall. With correct WB, and perhaps some PP adjustments, you'll get some very natural-looking light.

Hmm - I did not know that! I guess it makes more sense to not worry 'as much' as the background in that sense, but worry that the people are exposed properly. I will show a few photos I took when I have more time to upload - curious on what you will all say!



When you say shoot in front of a north facing building - do you mean in the shade that the building creates? I am not sure what you mean by using my palm, either. Thanks for the tips !

This post was edited by Chantal7 on May 23 2011 10:35am