Tuesday Photo Tip | Eye Catchlights

1 Comment Children, Portraits, Tuesday Photo Tip

Hello!  Today I will share one tip on how to achieve bright eye catchlights.  (There are many tips, this is just one that I use a lot)

Catchlights add life to a portrait, & can help draw attention to the subject’s eyes.

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I pulled my youngest away from her basketball for five minutes so I could snap these sample images for you.  End of day, sun is down but still bright outside.

Image A.  Pretty face, nice breeze, but not too much sparkle in the eye :

ISO 640  f/2.5  1/800th

Here’s the pull back shot of where she was standing.  She is facing South, so the sun is setting to her right (our view, left)

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Image B.  I had her squat and look UP at me.  Why?  The light source is UP.

Face your subject TOWARDS the light source.

Someone once told me think of the sun and the sky as a big flash.  I always remember that!

ISO 640  f/2.5   1/800th

Can you SEE the difference?  Those white spots in her iris are from the evening sky.  Her skin is more luminous.

Here’s the drop back image for this shot (except she turned her head the other way lol) :

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So next time you are out shooting, try having your subject look towards the light source and see what you get.  Shoot shoot shoot!!

I’d love to see what you get – leave me a comment & I’ll check it out!

Please do share any tips that YOU may have in the comments, I’d love to hear and share them.

Thanks!

~Kathy

To see last week’s Tuesday Tip on achieving a soft & dreamy background, click HERE.

Portrait Photographer Raleigh,NC

Summer Freckle Project | Raleigh Portrait Photography

1 Comment A Slice of Life, special events

Good Wednesday morning!

Woke up early this morning, sipped some coffee & went through my personal 2012 photos.  I have a goal : wall display in my OWN home by the end of the month!  I will keep you posted.  So far I have fifty images picked out for a 6 square photo display.  I am sticking with square, but perhaps more than six.  But definitely by January 31st I will have the prints ordered!

I came across this picture from the summer.

I LOVE freckles.

I have decided this summer I will do a freckle project.  Don’t have the details yet, but I hope to make it for a worthy cause.

If you are interested in being one of my subjects, or know someone who is, please drop me an email kathy@kathyhowardphotography.com and I will put you on the list.

Thanks & have a superb day!

~Kathy

Tuesday Photo Tip | Aperture & Soft Backgrounds

1 Comment Tuesday Photo Tip

Hi there!

Today I will write a brief post on how to achieve a nice soft background.

Tip # 1

DSLR:

Use a wide aperture!  The lower your f-stop number, the wider your aperture.

NOTE : Be careful & be aware that the wider the aperture you use, the shallower your focal plane will be.  Meaning other objects will may be soft as well.  See the first image above.  I focused on the green leaf in the foreground.  Parts of the flower & even the vase are soft.

Point & Shoot :

Put your camera setting on portrait.  Most times this is designated by a face icon on the settings dial.

(If you want MORE of your background in focus, put it on the landscape mountain icon on the dial!)

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Tip #2

Get close to your subject!  The closer you are, the more ‘out of focus’ your background will be.

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Tip #3

Place your subject as far away from the background as possible.  The more distance, the softer the background will be.

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Hope this helps!  I am could go on and on about aperture, but trying to keep this short & sweet & to the point!

Please feel free to leave feedback & any questions you may have in the comment section.

I am also accepting suggestions for next week’s tip!  Leave a comment…

Thanks!

~Kathy

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge | Best Face of 2012

4 Comments I Heart Faces

The impossible task, to pick a favorite face!  Oh my.

Instead of searching through my image files and agonizing over a choice, I decided to utilize my new dedicated word for 2013 … SIMPLIFY.

I chose the first image that came to mind, which is this one of my children that I took for our Christmas card this year.

(YES there are plenty of outtakes, which I also used on my card!)

  But I out-waited & out-witted them and got this gorgeous portrait that I will always always treasure!!!

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Head on over to I Heart Faces to see many more beautiful faces!

~Kathy

Photo Challenge Submission