Here's my most recent family portrait session. I had a great time with them. What a great little family with the new (ok not so new) baby. We met at the beach with about 45 minutes until sunset with another 30 minutes of twilight. First we tried to take advantage of the direct sunset light up on the boardwalk. I tried as many different light schemes as I could come up with. We used the sun as direct light. We tried using it for backlight as you can see in the following photos. Awesome how the hair just blows out and you get nice soft light for the face. I've been trying to do more of this these days.
We used the sun for side lighting. This has got to be one of my favorites of the entire section. As a Daddy, I can relate so much to this shot. I talk about capturing interactions later on and this is exactly what I'm talking about.
And for a silhouette.
Then we moved over to the west side of the dunes so that all we had was diffused sunlight which is of course soft. This makes for good photos but honestly these days I like more of an edge in photographs.
Weights And Wind
Then we even broke out the flash and umbrella. The wind was blowing hard. Earlier that day, while sitting in my office, I remembered the two times that my light stand had taken a fall because of the wind. I knew I needed sandbags but I didn't have any and even if I wanted to buy some (I don't because that costs money and costs even more money if it is "made for photography") there was no time for them to be delivered. So I'm looking around my office . . . I see my old A3 bag from the Air Force. It acts as our scuba bag and has masks, snorkels, fins, and WEIGHT BELTS! So back to the beach. I set up the stand with flash and open the umbrella. The only way this works is with the umbrella pointing into the wind. Otherwise I would be asking some of you from California to ship it back to me. Just latch the weight belt and drape it over the legs of the tripod. Works great.
Only drawback is that once it is set, it is not trivial to reposition it because of the wind and the weight so it was easier to move the subjects around in the light.
Interaction
I shoot a lot of pictures in hopes that I capture some moment that stands out. Little interactions between parent and child. I caught a few of those here along with the photo at the top and the one of Daddy kissing baby.
To my friends - I hope you guys are happy with these. I enjoyed spending time with you.
Be blessed. Let me know what you think. Leave comments.
Labels:
backlight,
balancing ambient,
beach,
family portraits,
hair light,
kids,
multiple lights,
natural light,
portraits
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They photos look great. What a great opportunity to use multiple lighting scenarios, and do so quickly. Hope they like the photos and appreciate the skill involved in shooting in such different and rapidly changing environments.