Using what you have available- with only ambient light!
Find out why I'm carrying this apple around with me all day on my new blog post that will be added tonight!!
One of my favorite things about my job is when I get thrown into a situation where I need to get creative and think. There are SO many situations that come up, especially during weddings. Most of the time I will walk into a hotel room and just have to use whatever I see around me to photograph all of the details shots that I need.
Today we will be discussing Ambient light only!- let's say you don't have a speed light or any other extra lighting that you need. (I don't use straight on camera flash either so I won't be talking about that)
First thing! Head to any window light you can find and just play with different' angles. Make sure to not only observe the subject but the light that is hitting the subject as well.
Now lets say the sun is going down and there isnt much window light, you have no flash and you dont have a reflector.... Find something shiny- or white!
bright backgrounds and dark foregrounds can still make for some great silhouettes BUT if you find a makeshift reflector and a helper to help you hold it (Thanks Justin!!) you can pop light and add more to your subject. Editing your images black and white also helps when working with only warm lit light.
Using the same set up you can move around and find random things from wherever you are to make it look a bit different. Then just crop your images in tight to avoid the mess.
With low light, your images may look a bit grainy. I honestly love the look of grain but if you don't you can always use the Noise Reduction tool in Lightroom or the reduce noise option in photoshop to fix that.
Last but not least! You don't always need to use white reflectors! HAVE FUN with your images! use whatever you find to make your images POP!
My kids had this super neon paper in their room and they helped me hold them on each side of the apple.
To the right side of the apple was a tall floor lamp so that ambient light bounced off of the paper and onto the apple. We also got some blueish toned light shining through their bedroom window that hit the front of the apple.
There are SO many ways to take a picture and lighting is just absolutly everything when it comes to photography. PLEASE feel free to take your own images and make sure to # me at #msharumblog or tag me on facebook!!!
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a awesome day!