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SWEET LIGHT
tips and tricks for making the most of light in your photography
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WELCOME TO THE SWEET LIGHT
PRETTY RESOURCE GUIDE!
Getting your business off the ground can be a tricky task full of learning
curves and stressful work. We can’t eliminate all your growing pains but
we certainly want to help you and share resources that will make getting
a good start easier. We know that successfully using the light around you
to create beautiful images is a great way to boost your business.
Hence the creation of this guide. We have included all you need to know
about using the light around you in one easy-to-find place. Filled with
tips and knowledge that has been aquired by our mentors over the course
of years, this guide will save you loads of time and money.
We are thankful that you are part of our community! We look forward to
all you share with us and hope that you find value in what we share with
you. We have confidence that you can become the photographer that you
desire to be.
Respectfully,
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IN THIS GUIDE
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11
17
How to Take Advantage of
Golden Hour
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29
Maximizing the Light for
Shooting Indoors
Images by Tammy Porter
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BONUS: Lighting & More
Cheat Sheets
Resource Guide Authors
Gayle Vehar and Anna Gay
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Light
MAKES ALL THE
Difference B Y G AY L E V E H A R
I took a lot of shots and read lots of books, manuals, and blog posts. I
watched lots of video tutorials. I improved my editing skills, bought and
mastered new lenses, and practiced some more. These steps were all im-
portant parts of my photography journey. However, I was still not getting
the results that I craved.
The light and how I used it had made all the difference in my work. It
had transformed what were okay images with good exposures into images
that I really wanted to look at and create over and over. Instead of search-
ing out locations to shoot, I was looking for beautiful light.
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And there is some extra good news I need to share. Beautiful light is all
around us at all times. If there is light, there is also pretty light. What
will make all the difference is seeing it and how you choose to use it.
I could even go one step further and say that there is no such thing as bad
light—just bad uses of light. No matter the day or the type of light you
have you can use it beautifully if you know how.
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This may be different than what you have been taught before. In fact, we
hear a lot about “scouting locations” and very little about “scouting the
light”. In reality, we need to see the light first and then think about what
locations will give you the best light.
If you are new to a location that you will be shooting at, look at the light
and determine where or what direction the good light will fall. THEN,
look for areas in your location that will give you a nice background. By
choosing your light first you will ensure that your subject looks their very
best.
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As if this weren’t difficult enough, the light also changes with the seasons
and where you happen to live. These are things that we will need to take
into account as we are seeking beautiful light. What works for me in a
certain month may not work for you.
All the information in these pages may make it sound like finding good
light is a daunting task. That isn’t the point at all. What you need to
know is that you CAN find good light despite all these challenges with
just a bit of information and some practice! Let’s get started!
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Discovering
THE EASE OF
Open Shade
B Y G AY L E V E H A R
You’ll find open shade in any area that is shaded from direct sunlight but
is illuminated by reflected light. You’ll find open shade in the shadow of
a home or tall building. You’ll find open shade in the shadow of a tight
hedge of bushes or a fence. You’ll find open shade in your garage (with
the door open) or even the doorway of your home. Anywhere you can
find a bit of shade but still see out toward the light is open shade.
Be careful not to have your subject to deep into the shade. Remember
that open shade means that there is a lot of reflected light falling on your
subject. If they are too deep in the shade and this reflected light can’t
find them, they won’t be nicely lit. Try to have your subject as close to the
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edge of the light as possible while still keeping them in the shade. Being
aware of this will create beautiful catch lights your subject’s eyes. Catch-
lights are lovely and make your subjects look beautiful and alive!
Covered Shade
Shade created by things that are covered is another option for open
shade. A pavillion, gazebo, or covered patio are great examples of cov-
ered shade. The light source for covered shade is still reflected light.
To ensure that you are still getting the same nice, even light as you get
from open shade be aware of where you place your subject underneath
the covering. Make sure that they are still close to the edge of the cov-
ered shade and that there is plenty of reflected light still falling on them.
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The shade that happens under and around trees is often accompanied
by patches of bright light. If not careful, these patches of light can end
up falling on parts of your subject. That may not sound terrible to you.
However, because the eye is naturally drawn to the bright parts of your
image, those bright patches of light will distract those that are viewing
your images from seeing the actual subject of your portrait.
If this type of shade is your only option, be extra watchful of where you
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place your subject or subjects and keep the bright spots from falling on
them. This is especially important if you have a group you are trying to
pose in the shade.
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HOW TO TAKE
A D VA N TA G E O F
Golden
Hour B Y G AY L E V E H A R
The Golden Hour happens twice a day: in the morning, within the first
hour of the sun rising, and in the evening: the hour before the sun sets.
Photographers love this time of day because they do not have to worry
about harsh shadows, blown highlights, and uneven light. There is still
pretty light all around but the quality of the light is softer and less harsh.
The light is warm and just plain magical. And did we mention that this
light happens TWICE everyday.
If you are new to shooting during this time of day, find a friend and make
a plan to practice several times in this type of light. If you have shot in
this lighting before and love it then you know that you need to educate
your clients about why you love to shoot at this time of day and plan
their photo session around the beautiful light that it creates each day.
You may not always have the luxury of planning all your shoots around
this time of day but definitely take advantage of it when you can! You’ll
love the results you get.
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Changing Light
One of the difficulties of shooting at golden hour is that the light changes
very quickly. To overcome this, arrive early at your location and get your
settings ready to go. If you will be photographing clients, help them to
understand the limited amount of light you will have. Arriving late could
leave you with little time to shoot.
Be aware that your settings may need to change often. As the light fades,
your settings will need to be adjusted to let in more light. This may
mean raising your ISO, lowering your shutter speed, or opening your
aperture.
Changing light may also mean adjusting your location or angle to the sun
to get the best light. So much of golden hour shooting is taking advan-
tage of the available light and moving you and your subjects so that the
light is falling just right.
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First, set your camera to spot metering. When working with backlight
there will be lots of bright light and lots of areas that are in shadow.
Spot metering will help you take your readings from the area that you
want exposed well and reduce the chances of having a dark subject.
Second, figure out what you want exposed well and set your exposure so
that is exposed well. When photographing a portrait it will typically be
your subject’s faces that you want exposed well. When photographing a
landscape it may be the sky or an interesting foreground.
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With all these lighting scenarios available plan to experiment with all of
the different types of light and find what are your favorite types of light to
shoot. You’ll never know if you don’t try each of them out. And experi-
menting is lots of fun! Experimenting will also help you fall in love with
this ligh just as many other photographers before you have done!
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TIPS FOR
PHOTOGRAPHING IN
Harsh
Light
B Y A N N A G AY & G AY L E V E H A R
One of the most difficult parts of harsh light are the bright patches of
light and deep shadows that often find themselves on our subjects faces
and bodies. Generally these aren’t flattering to anyone. Shade gives you
the ability to remove these from the equation.
Shade is also a plentiful resource. You can find it anywhere there are
buildings or trees. You can find it anywhere there are large hedges or
fences. You can find it in parks or urban areas. It might not always be
the perfect solution but it is definitely a wonderful option whenever pos-
sible.
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In this photo, there is no open shade to be found! However, the light is
not distracting, in fact, it’s working quite well, because the entire scene is
lit exactly the same throughout the image.
Look Away
Another way to combat harsh light is to have your subjects interacting
and not looking directly at the camera. Harsh highlights and shadows
will be less noticeable on the face if the faces are not looking directly at
the camera. They are even more tolerable if there is fun emotion and
interaction happening in the image.
Try having your subjects face one another and engage in talking or laugh-
ing. Maybe catch a small child while they are looking down or playing
with a toy. Both of these options will distract us from any hars shadows
on the face
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Warm it Up
All too often, shooting in harsh light can result in washed out skin tones
and surroundings. Adding some warmth in post-processing can help
relieve some of the washed out tones, but keep in mind that a little goes a
long way, so start off small and work your way up - you don’t want to get
too warm.
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Backlight Your Subjects
In mid-day sun, harsh shadows and highlights can be a deal breaker on
the face. One of the only ways to remove them from the equation is to
backlight your subjects. We talked a little about backlighting earlier.
Backlighting allows for even lighting on the face and eliminates harsh
shadows and highlights.
Backlighting can totally confuse your light meter and give you mixed
results. Make sure you are turning your camera to manual mode and
disregard your in-camera light meter. Take a few shots and adjust your
settings until you are getting your subjects nicely exposed. This may
mean that the background is overexposed. That is the trade-off you have
to make when shooting in mid-day sun!
Armed with these techniques, you can get lovely images in harsh light!
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Maximize THE
Light
FOR SHOOTING
INDOORS
B Y G AY L E V E H A R
I M A G E S B Y TA M M Y P O RT E R
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The good news is that there is pretty lighting to be found indoors just as
there is outdoors. The next piece of good news is that digital cameras
have improved so much in recent years that they can now help us to cap-
ture beautiful moments indoors now more than ever before. If you have
always wanted to be able to photograph better indoors, then read on! It
is totally possible to get beautiful images inside!
When photographing indoors look for windows and doors. Next, open
them up. Raise the blinds. Open the curtains or other window coverings
that we use for privacy. By doing this, you are making it possible to get
pretty images inside.
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type of light tends to create lots of harsh unflattering shadows on the face
in much the same way that mid-day sun does this. Second, I don’t want
the color of the overhead lighting to compete with the natural light of the
windows. They are two different colors and the mix creates a weird color
of light that is difficult fix in-camera or post-processing.
Not all window light is created equal. The easiest windows and doors to
use are the ones where there is no direct light streaming in. North and
south-facing windows will rarely have bright sunshine streaming in them.
East and west facing windows will have direct light for part of the day but
be perfectly lovely at other times. As you open the windows and doors
of your home or your clients homes, notice how the light is falling on the
floor. Is there a bright window-shaped patch of light on the floor? Maybe
this isn’t the best window to try right now.
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Now look for ways to use this light to capture your subjects. One of my
favorite ways to use window light is to position my subjects so that they
are facing the window while I stand with my back to the window. This
type of light is soft, airy, and even on subjects and is even flattering to
older people.
Minimize Grain
Grain is something that we have to deal with when shooting indoors.
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To get a proper exposure indoors, you will likely need to raise your ISO.
Never be afraid to do this to get a proper ISO. A proper exposure is a
sure defence against grain. Grain likes to hide in the shadows of an im-
age. An underexposed image has LOTS of shadows for grain to hide. As
you attempt to brighten an underexposed image the grain in the shadows
will appear. Instead, use your settings to get a properly exposed image
and the grain will only be minimal.
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a fixed focal length lens. These lenses allow you to open your aperture
many additional stops when compared with variable aperture lenses
(like the ones that come in many of the entry level kits). Opening your
aperture will let more light into your camera and in indoor, low-light
situations this can be invaluable. A 35mm or 50mm are great focal lenth
lenses to consider if you shoot indoors often.
All of these techniques will help to maximize the light indoors and help
to give you the beautiful lighting that you crave inside your home!
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Sweet
Light
PHOTOGRAPHY
& LIGHTING
CHEAT SHEETS
SWEET LIGHT
tips and tricks for making the most of light in your photography
• Cloudy days provide gorgeous even light • Shade is beautiful even light, too. On a
almost anytime of day and any location. sunny day, a spot of shade can provide
beautiful light and a bit of variety.
• Beware of dull gray skies. Cloudy days give
lots of gray sky that isn’t very interesting • When photographing in the shade, place
in photos. Keep the sky out of photos and your subject fairly close to the edge of the
take advantage of other beautiful back- shade so they are looking out toward an
grounds you might not otherwise get to area of sunlight. This will help keep catch-
use on a super-sunny day. lights in the eyes.
• As a total contradiction, the exception to • Avoid the shade from trees, which is gen-
the above is stormy skies. They can be erally splotchy with bright areas in random
interesting and dramatic! places. It is distracting in photos to have
bright patches falling on your subject.
• Watch your shutter speed and make sure
it doesn’t get too slow. With limited light • The light in shady areas tends to be blue
on overcast or stormy days, this can be a in color. Adjust your white balance to the
problem. shade or cloudy setting to fix this.
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SWEET LIGHT
tips and tricks for making the most of light in your photography
• Mid-day sunlight is best shot on manaual • Backlight is best shot in manual mode. (In
mode. (Anytime you are shooting shadows fact, it is one of the best reasons to learn to
and highlights, manual should be your first use it.)
choice!)
• Use spot metering or take your meter read-
• Position yourself so that your subject is ings with only the face in your frame. Back-
looking into their own shadow (you can light will easily trick your camera’s light
use some of the tips for back light here) meter and cause an underexposed photo.
to keep nice, even lighting on the face and
avoid “raccoon eyes” from overhead sun. • Haze and sunflare can easily happen with
back light. They are the result of light
• Having your subject look away from the streaming directly into your lens.
camera can also be a great way to minimize
the distraction of the mid-day sun. • Encourage haze and sunflare by including
the sun in your frame or placing the sun
• Avoid bright blown-out highlights and directly behind your subject.
deep shadows on the face. Not only are
they distracting, but they are hard to • Avoid haze and sunflare by keeping the sun
post-process. out of your frame and placing it slightly to
the left or right of your subject.
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SWEET LIGHT
tips and tricks for making the most of light in your photography
Indoor Lighting
Any window or door can work as a great indoor diffused with no defined patches of light, YAY! It is
light source. Photographers generally prefer the perfect time to shoot.
south-facing windows and doors. However, any
window or door that doesn’t have sun streaming You will likely have to raise your ISO a bit to get
directly into the window will work. You can tell if a nice exposure. Don’t be afraid to do this. Your
there is light streaming in by looking at the floor photo will be better quality and have less grain if
around the window and seeing if there are any you raise your ISO and get nice exposure, than if
defined patches of light. If there are, check back you underexpose and have to lighten the shot with
later to see if they are gone. If the light is nice and post-processing.
Tips for Shooting Side Lit Tips for Shooting Front Lit
• Side window light has the window light • Front window light has your subject facing
coming from 90is degrees to the side of the the window or door and you the photog-
photographer and your subject. rapher with your back in front of the light
source or outside the door.
• This lighting is very dramatic light with
more shadow and definition than front • This is a simple, soft, even light. This type
light. of light will darken the background since
your subject is closer to the light than the
• A reflector can help to even out some of background is.
the dramatic light if you find it too harsh.
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SWEET LIGHT
tips and tricks for making the most of light in your photography
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