Don’t be afraid to shoot outdoors with ONLY  the sun !  I hear it so many times, photographers tell me they like studio light more because it is more beautiful or consistent etc.  Well what they are REALLY saying is that they are afraid of shooting outdoors in natural light.  If they knew how to manipulate the natural light I am positive they would agree with me that natural light can be so friggin beautiful !  I LOVE  shooting outdoors in natural light.  Yes the studio is more controlled, no wind, no clouds no dust etc.  But you know what ? Don’t always take the easy way out.  We must continuously  challenge ourselves otherwise we can’t move up that ladder of  success.

Imagine a client calls you and asks you to do a shoot outdoors on location and it’s a BIG payday. I’m talking 50k or more.  Wouldn’t you like to be able to take that job and produce great results with confidence ?

Ok so look at this shot.  The model is back lit by the sun of course.  So now you ask how did I get light into her face and body?   I wore  a white t shirt, that’s it !  Just a plain white Haines t shirt that cost me 10 bucks or whatever it was, lol.  I was acting as the reflector !  So the next thing I did was make sure my meter in camera was set for center weighted.  What that does is meter the center portion of your scene and takes into consideration the strong back light.  Now granted, her hair will be blown out but you can control that with your exposure.  If you did not want her hair to be blown out, you scrim her.  But then it starts to look like a portrait, blah boring !

Ok so now days you shoot digital so you can see if you exposed correctly right away !  You have NO excuse to get out there and try it.  If you don’t want to embarrass yourself by taking a model out there at first then here is what you do.  Find a tree, a big oak tree or any tree that is large in circumference.  It doesn’t have to be a tree but the color of the bark is close to skin color and it is not shiny or metallic.  So make sure the tree is being back lit by the sun and shoot away.  When you dial in your exposure with the results you like then your ready to take a model and shoot.  Make notes of your exposure etc. Please don’t be afraid to ask me more questions or share your thoughts !

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Just saw this beautiful sunflower with a bee on it and fired away. Shot with Fuji  Velvia 35mm ISO 50.  I had to lay on my back and hold the camera steady.  I really loved shooting film, especially Fuji Velvia.

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