Portrait Photography using Natural Light
Our outdoor Portrait Photography Workshop uses natural light to illuminate the subject. This creates stunning, natural outdoor portraiture. We use reflectors to direct and control light. Our favourite reflector is the sunfire reflector. This casts a soft glow which warms skin tone. Great for those cooler winter months when light takes on a cool bluish tinge.
This shot of Katie is stunning, simple in its approach using a painted black wall as a backdrop in a Central London street. A gentle breeze is blowing and this is incorporated into the photograph. We pose Katie so that the wind blows gently through her hair adding vitality to the shot. Always build a rapport with your subject so that they relax and trust you. Katie is very relaxed as we ask her to close her eyes and rest one hand against the wall. This allows the gentle rhythm of the breeze to blow through the shot. Perfect!
Natural Light Portraiture
See how we have posed Katie, with her shoulders angled to the camera. This is preferable to shoulders square on to the camera. The angle creates leading lines to direct our eyes towards the subject. Note how the reflector creates an oval of light illuminating her face and neck.
Our favourite portrait lenses are either 50 mm prime or telephoto from 70 up to 200 mm. This amount of zoom factor is flattering to the subject and prevents distortion.
In this shot of Mainoo we use tight cropping and have the eyes look away and out of the picture. This creates a dynamic impact as we wonder what he is looking at or who he is waiting for. Central to both shots of Katie and Mainoo we use reflectors to add the essential light to the subject.
Portrait of Mainoo using Natural Light
Thanks to Katie and Mainoo who attended our Outdoor Portrait Photography Workshop last year. Both were photography course attendees and took it in turns to pose as models for the group. Excellent work guys!
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