Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The love affair continues...



Above shot 1/100th, f/2.8, ISO400 @170mm.

I'm practically a wedding photographer now with all the ambient light pictures that I've been shooting. Really. :)

These few of Sarah (with hopefully more to come), were all shot ambient on a semi-overcast day in a gorgeous house in Santa Monica. With such soft lighting I was able to to turn my focus towards capturing images with a different look and feel than the ones that I'm used to doing in studio.

It also opens a huge can of worms as far as exposure and focus are concerned.

The bad news first: Low-light equals slower shutter speeds and larger apertures. With the 70-200mm f/2.8G this creates 2 challenges; motion-blur and back focusing issues. To get around this, I recommend NOT going wide open f/2.8 but instead stop down to f/3.2 or f/3.5. Secondly, the D3's low-light abilities allows one to push ISO in order to get longer depth of field as well as shooting at faster shutter speeds. Do it :)

The good news: Soft light opens doors as far as different looks are concerned. Shooting shallow DoF images definitely evokes certain feelings from the viewer. While the images often aren't tack sharp can be more sensual and more leading. Often the focus directs your attention to certain aspects in the frame.

My relationship with ambient lighting has been limited until recently. Getting out of the studio has created many situational opportunities and I feel like I'm a kid in a candy store. As an aside, the house that we shot in yesterday was extraordinary and I could have shot there for many hours. Hopefully I'll get a chance to to go back soon!

Perhaps this is exactly what I need in order to keep growing photographically.


Above shot 1/250th, f/2.8, ISO400 @95mm


Above shot 1/125th, f/3.2, ISO400 @ 70mm

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