Winter Photo Challenge Week 3: Rembrandt Triangle with Soft Window Light
Posted on November 17, 2013
Last week I missed out on week two of the Photography Awesomesause’s Winter Photo Challenge 2013-2014, but I wasn’t about to let that deter me from getting back into the challenge.
This week the challenge was to get that soft window lighting for an indoor portrait. I will admit that this posed a challenge for me for two reasons: 1) I don’t seem to get home in time for natural light indoors, and 2) none of our window shades are working at the moment, meaning that the shades can’t be opened to allow light in.
I ended up doing the challenge this afternoon with my brother as the subject, and instead of opening the window shades, I actually opened the front door and had him sit in the light that streamed in. Using a white reflector, I was able to capture a couple of shots that I am pleased with.
I would definitely like to work more on this look. I can see how in the right conditions, it can be really beautiful. Next time I just need window shades that open!
Winter Photo Challenge Week 1: Backlighting
Posted on November 3, 2013
I am so excited to be participating in Photography Awesomesause’s Winter Photo Challenge 2013-2014!! I can already tell this is going to be a great opportunity to get me out there on a weekly basis fine tuning and perfecting my photography skills. Plus, instant weekly blog post win!
This week the challenge is backlighting. For those of you that may be wondering, here is a quick definition of backlighting:
“Backlighting refers to the process of illuminating the subject from the back. In other words, the lighting instrument and the viewer are facing towards each other, with the subject in between. This causes the edges of the subject to glow, while the other areas remain darker. The backlight can be a natural or artificial source of light (source).”
Backlighting is dramatic and technically “wrong” in a lot of ways (if you are studying photography, you know what I mean) but it is also incredibly beautiful. You can see lots of examples of backlighting used properly here.
I didn’t find out about the challenge until today, but fortunately for me, I happened to be at Morikami Park this afternoon taking some nature photos, something I haven’t done in a long time. Although it wasn’t planned, I actually got a photo that fit the bill for the challenge!
I look forward to getting more creative as the weeks go by and actually getting the chance to plan out my photographs. This is going to be fun!
Camile Teresa | Photographer 