As a photographer we understand that photography is not just
about clicking a button on a camera, but it is an art that requires skills, technique,
artistic vision and sometimes the help from Mother Nature. As a
photographer and a student studying photography at the Michigan State
University through Coursera, there are two articles which focuses on the “golden
light” that I would like to share to help you create beautiful portrait photographs.
Lauren Lim,
a photographer at Photography
Concentrate in an article "How To
Make Your Photos Magical" speak about the effect of shooting
photograph using the golden light. The golden light is sunlight that travels
through the earth’s atmosphere and creates a soft, warm, dimensional light; this
usually occurs twice a day around sunrise and sunset. The
golden light is perfect for portrait photography in that the soft light makes
people look their best; the light is warm so it gives a warmer tones,
red/yellow, which makes the skin of your subject glow and it is dimensional, that
is, it adds more directional light because of the low angle which allows for longer
and softer shadow that creates a more dynamic effect; it helps to illustrate
three dimensionality of the photograph.
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| Rim Effect Using Golden Light http://bit.ly/2e1C90a |
Rachel Grozanick,
is a photographer and in an article "PHOTOGRAPHY
101: MASTERING THE GOLDEN HOUR" published by Digital
Trends, she discussed ways in which photographer can utilizing the golden
light to create stunning photography. Rachel explains that when shooting portraits
during the golden hour, it is wise to have your subject face the sun, because
the light is diffused, the light won’t be bouncing off your subject or their clothes and
they won’t have the need to squint. Also
subject can back the light to create a rim light, which is sometimes called the halo
effect, this causes the light to create an outline of the subject and make them
pop out from the background. Light can also enter the lens and create lens flares
which creates beautiful effect if used properly.
Having studied these two articles and from my experience as
a photographer I would recommend that photographers follow these three listed
action items to produce stunning portrait photographs.
- · Plan- golden light only occurs twice a day; therefore you should plan your shoot around it to make full use of the light.
- · Different Lens- using different lens gives the opportunity to create different light effect e.g flares.
- · Position- position subject at different angles of the sun can create stunning effects.
Follow these tips and in no time you will be creating
stunning photographs using the golden light.
Author: Abbas Hamid
My name is Abbas
Hamid, I am a photographer and student enrolled in the Michigan State
University photography programme at Coursera and I am also a social media
marketing student at North Western University through Coursera.
Coursera- http://bit.ly/2e85c6c
Photography and Beyond
(Michigan State University)-http://bit.ly/2dOsl8n
Social Media
Marketing(Northwestern University)- http://bit.ly/2e1tevK
Abbas Hamid
Photography (Facebook)- http://bit.ly/2euanJd
Abbas Hamid
Photography (Twitter)- http://bit.ly/2elNpnT
