May 2009 Newsletter
Hello Raw Shooters
Wedding season has started and we all are busy. So let’s add some fun to our photography. If you have a funny or interesting story you’d like to share with others, you can send your story to us and we’ll publish it for you.We love to hear from you - please send your feedback to: mailto:info@rawdigitalimageediting.com
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Tip of the month for May:
Cheryl Wiens from Reflection of Life Photography is an experienced photographer with a unique insight on photography which is very inspiring. She wrote:
Hi Ted,
With spring & summer months comes wedding season and lots of opportunities for outdoor portraits of family and friends.
I love natural light photography, but it is very hard to get consistent results! All sorts of unexpected things happen, like blown highlights and distracting shadows, odd colour casts and so on. What tips can you suggest for improving natural light portraits? Thanks!
Cheryl Wiens
Reflections of Life Photography
www.myreflectionsoflife.ca
I found her email makes an interesting topic for discussion. As always you are most welcome to participate and share your thoughts and experiences with all of us.
Outdoor portrait photography is not as easy as studio shooting, since in the studio you have a controlled situation such as fixed white balance or color temperature, shadow and highlight can be controlled and so on. But in outdoor portrait photography we should always consider the variables and be ready to work around them.
Here are some basic rules that can resolve some of the issues:
1. Always shoot in Raw format.
2. If possible shoot a 14 bit Raw file for better Dynamic range over 12 bit raw format.
3. Always use some kind of Fill Light! You can use your Flash for fill light but I recommend using Light Disc (reflectors). On sunny days using a SOFTGOLD disc
creates a very warm and dramatic effect.
4. Use an 18% gray card to set custom White balance. For setting the custom white balance use the gray card and illuminate it with ambient light and reflection from the light disc/flash and then measure the color temperature. When changing the location, even by a few meters, measure the white balance again.
5. Close to sunset when the color temperature changes so quickly do custom white balance every almost 15 minutes and/or when moving to another area to make sure that the white balance is accurate.
6. When it is not possible to custom white balance that often, it will be helpful to shoot a photo with the gray card in the first image of the new location/ set up and use that image to adjust the white balance in post processing.
7. Centre Weight metering is recommended.
8. Exposure compensation can make the post processing easier. Each camera is different but I’ve found that +1/3 compensation seems to be the golden number.
These tips can improve outdoor portraitures a lot. For the best possible results you can send your files to us for professional editing and enjoy the outdoor activity rather than sitting inside while others have fun without you!
If you have suggestions or additional tips on this topic, please email us.
That’s all for this month. See you in June with more exciting tips.
Ted and Omnilargess Team
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