Digital Photographer - USA (2019-07)

Above left

Hard light

A shaft of hard

light is used to

illuminate the face

and create contrast

in the portrait with

the background

the sun. Alternatively, think about a shot with
eyes shut, this can be dramatic and
beautiful too!
In the longer shot, understanding what
falls into shade and light helps create an
interesting and engaging background. Shards
of light falling on the background are essential,
without this, the image will be completely dark.
In open sun, the light reaches across the
background, meaning it will be a similar to
exposure to that falling on the model. In this
case, you need to face your model into the
light and expose for the skin. If the model
faces away and therefore puts their face in
the shade, exposure will be uneven and you
will need to add light with a flash to fill the
shadows and balance the exposure. Caution
is advised when using a reflector in these
conditions, as the hard sun reflected can be
damaging to the eyes.
Below, hard sun is used in the open, and the
light reflects off the surfaces creating even
exposure. My preference is to use the light as
it exists, rather than add it in opposition to the
natural light, as the effect is more “false”.

1

Location Find a location

where the sun creates

a nice backlight, this was

shot around 5.30pm on a

sunny day, where the sun

is softening and lower in

the sky creating a nice

hair light. Place the model

facing away from the sun.

2

Set exposureCreateanexposure

that leavesthebackgroundslightly

overexposedbutnotcompletelywhited

out. The lightonthehairisimportant,it

should beexposednicely.HereI amusing

shutter speedandaperturetocontrolthe

amount oflight,astheapertureissetat

f4.5 to createa softportrait.

3

Place flash Position the flash in front but

to the side of the model, in this image

some of the natural light is bouncing off the

white car, so the natural light already wraps

around the side of the face. I place the flash

on this side to continue the to add flash from

the direction which it already exists. 4

Aim itAddtheflash,feathering

aroundthefaceata powerthat

creates a slightlylesshardlightthan

that from behind,thiskeepsit feeling

believableandnatural.

Backlight naturally

Useflashsubtly

The natural light is used as a hair/rim light with the

flash adding to this and wrapping the light around

the side of the face to create subtle flash that isn’t

completely opposed to the existing light BEFORE AFTER

BALANCE THE LIGHT

Hard light can sometimes be too much, especially in the

height of summer where the sun is high in the sky or

during midday hours. Ideally this would be avoided by

planning to shoot at other times, but that’s not always

possible so often it is necessary to find or create shade,

to hide from the harsh light. Shade can provide relief

from the sun, but can create issues in terms of exposure

difference between the area of shade where you’ve

placed your subject, and the areas in the background of

the image which could be areas of exposed sunlight.

In this situation the choice is to either keep any areas of

exposed light out of the image and therefore work with

even exposure or add light back into the image to balance

the shade with the natural light in the background.

Use shade

Door

Skrim

Reflector

Camera

Subject

AOPS Light

Creates

Shade

unlight