As I mentioned in my previous post, Natural Light, I took my girls out for individual photo shoots last Labor Day weekend to explore the differences between shooting with natural, available light and shooting with off-camera lighting.
There are challenges and advantages to both techniques but I personally prefer the balance and punch that off-camera lighting offers my sessions.
I took my 16 year old to a nearby trail at about 6pm this evening, during the Golden Hour. The advantage to bringing my own lighting along on a shoot is that I control the exposure and balance between the foreground and the background of the image. I also have control of the direction of the lighting on my subject, choosing the feel I want to create in the image by creating shadows and highlights. On a cloudy day, it’s especially helpful that I don’t have to rely on the sun and I can brighten the scene (and even warm it up with gels) without taking the chance of making a flat, dull photo because of the weather.
“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”
– Dorothea Lange
