Why Brad Convinced Me Lighting is a Big Deal
I don’t often say this, but Brad was right. Proper lighting is a big deal when it comes to photography. If you’re wondering why I’m illustrating this point with a picture of my handcrafted wedding bouquet (isn’t it cute?), it’s because I didn’t do my hair and makeup today, and Jameson is sleeping at the moment.
Check out the difference proper lighting makes on the exact same wall.
Let’s look at these two pictures, though. They are both in the same spot (against our kitchen wall), but Anyela has two lights and a reflector on her to create the soft lighting and give the picture the effect that it has. Cool, right? You should have seen Anyela’s and Julia’s faces when we showed them the picture in camera. I’m thinking they thought this setup looked a little sketch. Lol. I mean, I love our kitchen, but it doesn’t exactly scream “photography studio” when you’re against a wall with scuff marks from our turquoise, mismatched chairs and our kitchen table is shoved out of the way and piled with photography equipment.
On the left, you see what the picture looks like without flash as Brad was adjusting exposure. The picture on the right is with the off camera flash to light the girls and create separation from the background.
The picture on the left was taken at the end of Anyela’s shoot as Brad was getting the exposure set on the camera. The girls may not have been aware that he wasn’t really taking pictures yet, or maybe they were just freezing so hugging was appealing. It’s a cute picture of them, but if you compare it to the other pictures from the shoot, it’s missing something.
The picture on the right shows the difference with the off camera flash. Notice how the background is darker, while they are lighter? Your eye will be attracted to the lightest area of a photograph, so exposing everything properly while making the person the lightest part of the picture will take things to a different level. Besides, this is not the kind of picture you can get off a cell phone or by shooting in automatic mode with an expensive camera. (Which is exactly why Brad takes pictures, not me. Lol.)
Brad loves teaching, but he loves learning too. He actually never took a photography class in school, but here we are with a photography business. *Insert head-scratching emoji* He is a voracious reader and is constantly poring over photography articles. He’ll watch Youtube videos too, but he predominantly has learned by reading about photography, lighting, website building, you name it.
Not going to lie, I had my doubts about Anyela’s modeling session the first time we got to play with our lights. I love my husband dearly. But did he really know what he was doing?
Turns out the answer was yes, much to my surprise and joy. I would post more on this, but ummmm… I don’t really know all the technical lighting stuff, just that it’s awesome. So I’ll close here.
