In the Open Air, Amazing Portraiture
In the Open Air, Amazing Portraiture
Swan Pedia - For those of you who have documented your weekend excursion, a family reunion, or a special vacation retreat with friends or family, you know that outdoor photography presents a unique set of problems. Even the most experienced photographer may make mistakes. There is a downside to direct sunshine. Your composition might be hampered by the presence of unwanted things. It might be difficult to get the colors right.
Mother Nature, on the other hand, isn't always on her best behavior. Even though Mother Nature is beyond your control, there are many more hurdles you confront as an outdoor portrait photographer that you can overcome with little skill and patience. I've picked up a few outdoor photography tips and tricks along the way that I hope may be useful to others.
Keep things simple. Your outdoor pictures may benefit from a variety of natural backgrounds, such as an adobe wall with its subdued tones and subtle pattern, or a patch of blue bonnets, snapdragons, or yellow primrose. While you are creating it, you want your subject to be the center of attention in your portrait. It's easy to lose her if you're not cautious with busy patterns, vast regions of bright colors (particularly when they're mixed), or overpowering shapes in the foreground or background that aren't well addressed.
The ability to control the depth of field is also important (the range of distances from your camera that are in focus). A forest edge or mountains in the distance may be used as a gorgeous background for your subject when you adjust the depth of focus correctly. Adjusting the depth of field on an SLR camera allows you to pull the backdrop into or out of focus, depending on the subject matter. This is a way for the viewer of your portrait to manage their focus. The human eye is naturally attracted to the brightest and sharpest points of focus in an image. To make your subject stand out, make sure she's in crisp focus compared to your backdrop. In order to control the depth of field, you may alter your aperture setting (the size of your lens opening, expressed in f-stops).
The shallower the depth of field, the smaller the f-stop should be on your lens. You may have seen a shot in a nature magazine of a gorgeous butterfly amongst flowers, in which case the photographer used a shallow depth of field to bring the butterfly into crisp focus while softly blurring the blossoms (a small f-stop setting). If you're working in strong light, this may be tough to do. To prevent overexposure, you must raise the shutter speed as you lower the f-stop (the lower the f-stop, the shorter the exposure period). Image resolution is reduced as the shutter speed is increased. Try different combinations of aperture and shutter speed to see which produces the best results.
Keep an eye out for potentially distracting elements in the background. Your subject's head may seem to have an additional appendage in a two-dimensional picture of anything that is, in reality, just a shrub, a mailbox, or a birdhouse. In general, your topic will not be impressed by the results you get in this manner. Look for an unusual viewpoint that removes any distracting elements from the frame.
Control the brightness of the light source. Downlight (e.g., intense noon light) is typically unwelcome in most situations. Can someone say, "Raccoon eyes" because of the shadow patterns it creates? ....Late-morning and late-afternoon light (e.g., sunrise and sunset) is significantly more favorable. Beautiful shadow patterns on a subject's face may be achieved by carefully manipulating the lateral light coming from the camera. A common adage among outdoor photographers is that "the first tree in the forest is best" when it comes to choosing a backdrop for their shots. Due to the fact that you're situated on the edge of an area of woodland that is protected from the intense downlight, you still have lateral light to work with. The same principle applies to overhanging areas such as porches. Using shade cloth and reflectors to block light while directing available lateral light to enhance their topic and accomplish their desired impact is a common practice among professionals.
Color correction is the last step. For color correction in outdoor photographs prior to the digital era, corrective filters or special films were the most common method. In digital cameras, the white balance adjustment allows for color correction (expressed as color temperature in degrees Kelvin). When photographing in the outdoors, most digital cameras do a decent job of automatically changing the white balance. Using the table below, you may experiment with manual white balance settings. See this page at http://www.sizes.com/units/color temperature.htm for additional information on color temperature adjustment.
sources of standard temperature
Candlelight and a 2400K oil lamp......
Sunrise early in the morning, 3200K...
Tungsten light bulbs 4000K..... Fluorescent 5200K..... Typical sunlight; electronic flash 6000K.....
The temperature is 7000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is considered overcast.
It is important to keep your composition simple, to regulate the depth of field, and to remove any items that may detract from your subject. The actual beauty of your subject may be shown and enhanced by carefully adjusting the available natural light and making white balance corrections in your images. To go farther, make it a daily goal to free your imagination so that you may experience the world in new and interesting ways. Do not be satisfied with deeming anything "normal." If you take a step back and consider this for a second, everything you see is commonplace to someone.
Anyone can produce art if they have an uncanny capacity to look at the world through fresh eyes and then reflect that unique perspective back to the world. Try new things and don't be scared to fail. The world is a kaleidoscope of shapes, textures, hues, and patterns created by the hand of God. The vast outdoors does not need the presence of awe-inspiring vistas or imposing man-made buildings to produce stunning images. May the weather always be on your side. Good morning, and have a great day of photographing!
