Today’s blog is all about the proper lighting for portraits. There are 2 very different form of lighting for portraits. There’s natural lighting and there’s studio lighting. Today we are going to primarily focus on lighting for portraits using natural light.
Natural light is the best light for all portraits whether it be wedding party, family, or individual portraits. When scheduling a portrait session look at what time the sun will be setting that day and try to schedule it for about 2 hours before sunset or as it is called to many photographers “glowy/golden hour” This is when you see rich golden colors and the sun is the perfect position for portraits. For portraits the best is when you backlight your subjects with the sun or when positioning your clients just make sure there are not alot shadows being created by the sun so that there face is clear and shadow free. Sometimes there will be shadows but make sure they are not distracting to the photograph.
If you are shooting a portrait session in overcast skies dont be worried. Sometimes overcast is actually better then bright sunny days when it comes to photography. When shooting in overcast skies the light typically tends to be even on your subjects and will cause less shadows.
