VIDEO : Quick Ambient Light Portraits
It may come as a complete surprise to you but I sometimes make pictures without using a flash. In fact, I do this quite often. Just before we gave our new house a complete make-over, we went to shoot there for a short shoot with professional model Sylviane. We had less than an hour to shoot the pictures and the video. That includes: a guided tour in the house, chatting and two wardrobe changes.
But for me (and probably most of you) this is the kind of situation that happens pretty often and then it’s back to basics to get some decent shots.
VIDEO
Quick Available Light Portraits by Bert Stephani from SqueezeTheLime.com on Vimeo.
In case you can’t play the video, you can also see it on YouTube.
For a better version of the pics, check the Flickr slideshow below.
This was the second time I worked with Sylviane, and the second time we had to do a short improvised shoot. I would really love to do a bigger shoot with her one day, any ideas?
Love the pure and naturel pictures!
nice one! a very classic example that it’s more of the photographer than the camera, i’ve much to learn!
good job for the videos! keep them coming!
This is a perfect illustration of how, as a professional, you should be able to work in any kind of situation, even an abandoned house like this one !o), and come out with beautifull pictures. ’cause often you don’t get to choose the location where you make a portrait and you simply have to make the best out of it.
What you illustrate here is very good practice for this kind of situation. And working without flash… Wow; that’s a technique I should practice more often!o)
good informative video!
thanks
In “the good old days” I also used to shoot with only available daylight and a simple reflector. When I see this video I should definetely plan more (personal) shoots with only daylight.
About the low light conditions: you can maybe consider a monopod or tripod to be sure pictures are sharp?
Great Video!
great style bert. great to see you working without flash. reminds me I need to try without flash first , and if flash can help me get the picture more interesting. use it then.
Excellent. I always look forward to your videos.
Seeing you shoot with available light is really helpful. Sometimes I feel like I get stuck forcing myself to use flash when available conditions don’t require it!
Another very nice video! These really help a beginning photographer like me.
You know what I was thinking? It would be great if you made these videos into video podcast so we could subscribe, etc! Not that big of a deal, because I will watch either way, but it would be nice.
What a demonstration! Simple 450D and imposing result!
Good video, some basic ideas very simply explained. And I just bought a 50 mm, I will try your suggestions for sure !
Very nice pictures!
How do you control the depth of field with such as low f-stops? It seems very difficult to get that level of sharpness in the images. Did you take the photos in a “good depth of field distance” and then crop them with Photoshop?
Best regards,
wauw … thanks for this one !
I’m an amateur photograph enthusiast on a limited budget so this subject suits me fine and was quite helpful.
Seeing you take these images with ease and getting stunning results just got me inspired.
keep up the good work.
d.
No HD? =(
Was good anyway =)
More videos please =D I love watching them, inspires me heaps!
Really inspiring video! I love it!
Great Video, Very useful info
Do you know why I hated it? …it was only 4min…
another great video…like the idea of using the reflector by the window but having the model hold it. every new video gives me new ideas and gets me out there shooting, that’s why this site is fast becoming one of my favorites!
Great video, cant thank you enought for the work you do with this site!
Very interesting video and well done, informative as well and a great illustration how to get nice results inside without flash.
I have the same question as “Miguel Angel” did you open the the 50mm all the way an just have a soft photo ?
Really great video on how to use natural light. What I miss in some of the video, maybe other persons miss it too, is some more information on which diafragma or shutterspeed you usally use, or how you keep it under control.
These are one by one very interesting videos, keep on going.
Awesome work, Bert! I love shooting available light, and this video was such an inspiration, I’ve got to get out and shoot more without my flashes!
Thanks for posting this, Bert. Very good results - gives me a lot of new ideas. Loved the music as well.
Great videos again!
btw, I just noticed that this video number is Lime003 when it’s supposed to be the 4th video.
The 450D looks really small in your hands.. but I appreciate emphasizing on how you can achieve a lot with less advanced gear.
It prevents me from spending so much on gear when my current gear will do the job.
[...] assez. Il faut s’imprégner, regarder, voir, apprendre… A cet effet, et entre autres, Bert Stephani est une source d’apprentissage et d’inspiration. Voir sa dernière vidéo, [...]
Great video. The best ideas are often simple.
What metering mode are you using for these shots? I’m guessing that you are using centre weighted metering, reading off the face and then setting the camera to manual mode.
I’d really appreciate a short narrative on a future video explaining where you are metering from to get these great shots.
Thanks
Dave
really cool. thanks for showing how to get great results while keeping things simple. it’s good to know that you don’t need a ton of fancy equipment to make get great photos.
Hey guys, great site! I love squeezing those limes. Looking at you pictures, I often (think to) see a lot of vignetting. I guess thats part of your photographic style. Do you add the vignetting with Photoshop, or do you have tricks to get a more ‘natural’ vignetting effect?
thanks for all your comments
When I started to understand off camera flash, I too went through this phase when you seem to be using flash all the time. I got aware of this and started forcing myself to use natural light more often. Nowadays I don’t feel bad anymore when I haven’t used flash on a job
@Bryce: Looks like the video’s will be indeed available as podcast once we find the time to set it all up.
@Miguel Angel & Jason: The DOF is indeed pretty limited wide open if you’re close to the subject. It’s just a matter of careful focusing. Use the focus point that is closest to the part you want to be sharp. We talked about focusing points in one of our earlier podcasts (ep3, I think).
@J. Wilson: That was about all the video we had because the shoot took less than an hour including wardrobe change and lots of chatting up.
@Daniel: For the moment we don’t own HD video camera’s
But the 5D mkII is on it’s way
@Dietrich: You can find all the EXIF data on our Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/squeezethelime
@Pepin: yup, I made a mistake with the numbers
The 450D is indeed really small. I wouldn’t want to be shooting with such a small camera for my daily work, but the tiny body is a big advantage to me when I just want to take a camera with me without lugging a big backpack around.
@Dave: Center weighted average is indeed often a good starting point before switching to full manual to prevent the Japanese engineers inside the camera to have another artistic view then yourself. I got pretty used to working full manual so these days, I often just start in manual. It usually takes only a few test shots to get the exposure right.
@Clim: Both Pieter and I are vignetting junkies. I use the vignetting sliders in Lightroom pretty often it’s usually just to amplify natural vignettes. In the second part of the video you can see how a spot of light on the wall is darker towards the outside for example. Shooting wide open (certainly on full frame cams) gives you some vignetting also.
Thanks a lot! Videos are always very interesting to imagine the rooms, the situations. I love your videos.
I like that you emphasize that one can make great pictures with really basic gear and a “boring” location. Great job Bert and the model looks great, bet that one hour shooting her flew by pretty fast..
Couldn’t help noticing, as in previous videos, that you have fun shooting your models and they do too.. any tips for keeping a good spirit during a session and keeping the model entertained and laughing? Do you sometimes just make stupid noises or jokes, or is the overall level “professional” and “grown-up” all the time?
Thanks,
Boris
You guy’s really come as a gift from heaven…
I’ve allready learned a lot from your movies.
One question tho… U use a California Sunbounce … What is its advantage if you would compare it with a standard round reflector?
Hi Bert!
First time I’ve found you @Youtube. I like your videos and I’ve learned a lot.
But:
Could you please show your post-processing or some pictures, which are not post-processed? It would be easier for your guest to see, what you’re doing with light. This would be very helpful.
Thank you!
dennis
Ik vind het zelf ook erg fijn om bestaand licht te gebruiken… Het is toch altijd anders dan flits licht… Ik ben voor mijzelf nog niet uit wat ik precies wil maar dat komt wel na veel oefenen…
Amazing video! This is my favorite way to shoot, but I don’t come up with photos that have that studio feel like these ones do… this is super inspiring for me for this coming weekend when I have a shoot in similar conditions!
Thanks for “dumbing things down” and offering such great tips
Awesome video. It is nice to see pros at work and learn….Thank you so much for sharing.
[...] Visit Squeeze The Lime for a fantastic video on “Quick Ambient Light Portraits”. Bert Stephani give us a guide to making fantastic portraits without using any flash equipment, using the full potental of the light that simply comes through the window. –>Click Here<– [...]
[...] en diferentes sesiones de fotografías. De especial interés es el dedicado a un photoshoot con luz natural a través de una ventana. Sencillo y [...]
Bert, first off, thank you for giving back to others the talents you have been blessed with. I sure enjoy watching your ambient light video (over and over) and am trying to duplicate the technique of my subject being exposed and my background being black. I’m 53 yrs old and really just trying photography out as a hobby. I have a 40D with a 50mm 1.8, but I haven’t succeeded in making my subject exposed properly and my background black, any suggestions?
I guess the only other thing I’m missing (besides the skills) is a beautiful model like Sylviane.
Thank you again for your unselfishness to others
Amos
Thank you so much for sharing this video. Really love the look of these images and has helped me understand how to get a beautifully soft light in my shot.
Really appreciate when people spend their own time to help others.
Dean
Australia
Thanks for sharing!
I really like taking portraits and because I still don’t have the money to buy some studio equipment it’s really helpful to get some impressions how professionals work in such situations.