how can I create lighting in a home for portraits?
Mommy2Two!! asked:
I am taking pregnancy portraits of my brother and his wife.. I am a an amateur photographer.. mostly of landscapes and what not.. or even outside pictures.. but we are doing these inside their house… at around 6:30 or 7.. when it is already getting dark.. how can I create good lighting.. any ideas or tricks?
I am taking pregnancy portraits of my brother and his wife.. I am a an amateur photographer.. mostly of landscapes and what not.. or even outside pictures.. but we are doing these inside their house… at around 6:30 or 7.. when it is already getting dark.. how can I create good lighting.. any ideas or tricks?
You want natural lighting (window light on overcast days is the most precious think you can hope to have).
Refuse to shoot in the evening… all you will have is either fill flash (hardly romantic or sensual) or incandescent (existing light from bulbs) that will give an orangish hue to the degraded images you will get.
Scroll down on this page an click on the pregnant woman with her husband to see what I’m talking about: she’s the fourth one down on the right side.
That’s got special effects but don’t you just love the mood? Daylight, overcast, no flash in the living room on the floor. All natural light. [who] Fotoz 4 FX photography
~Try using some subtle halogen track lighting–or you can use halogen spot or flood bulbs, but use the smallest ones-(I think they are indoor plant growth lights or something) -they are usually BLUE in color, but it won’t make anyone look like a smurf, it justs provides a softer feel as well as a non-irritating light source. So yeah-get some of those blue tinted small halogen flood/spot lights-and you should be ok.. [who] elreydelaselva@sbcglobal.net
Really, your best option is to reschedule during daylight to get window light. You could cobble together lights from around the house, bounce and diffuse your flash etc etc or even rent studio lighting. But for an amateur unused to dealing with artificial light sources in portraiture, you will get much better results by going the natural light route. [who] Ara57