Families come in all different sizes — and so does family portrait gear.
But, there are a few essentials followed by a few accessories that
can play a significant role in capturing great images of families.
Let’s look at the most important family portrait gear.
The Camera
The best camera for family photography
mixes both resolution and moderate speed. Resolution, for capturing
those details. And speed? Because you’ll often be photographing kids
that have a hard time sitting still.
You don’t need the crazy double digit speeds of a sports camera, but you should at least have a 5 fps burst speed.
Interchangeable lens cameras are ideal for photographing families. But
choosing between mirrorless and DSLRs is a matter of personal
preference.
Both have great image quality and performance. And both can easily meet the needs of a professional family portrait photographer.
Full frame cameras will offer the most quality. But a crop sensor DSLR or mirrorless is still a solid camera for photographers with limited gear budgets.
Just remember, if you decide to upgrade later, you’ll also need to
upgrade to full frame lenses. This is only the case if the lenses you
choose are for crop sensors.
Finding a solid interchangeable lens camera with good resolution and decent speed isn’t tough. Here are a few excellent options currently on the market:
A good camera needs good glass to match — so what is the best lens for family portraits?
There are several things to look for in a good family portrait lens — and you may want to pick up more than one.
Zoom or Prime
A zoom lens isn’t a requirement for family photography. Just zoom with your feet.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits to a zoom lens. It can help you
capture a greater variety of poses faster than a prime lens. This is a
big help when working with young kids that only have so much patience
for photos.
Prime lenses tend to have wider apertures. You won’t use an f/1.8 photographing a large group, or most of the faces won’t be in focus.
But, you might use that wide aperture photographing just mom and dad. Or
to intentionally focus on only one member of the family.
A bright prime lens also tends to sell at a much lower price point than a bright zoom lens.
Wide Angle Lens
Families can be as small as two people — or they can push upwards
into double and triple digits. For photographing larger families, you’ll
need a wide angle lens to fit them all in. You don’t want a crazy wide angle lens, or you’ll end up with too much distortion.
A 35mm is a good length for capturing the entire family, either within a wide-angle zoom or as a 35mm prime lens.
Try:
Wide angle lenses will be sure to fit everyone. But longer lenses
tend to be more flattering for portraits. A standard or shorter telephoto lens like a 50mm or 85mm is the most common.
You can still use shorter telephotos and a standard focal length like a 50mm. You’ll need a wide open space to stand farther back when photographing larger groups.
This is why many family portrait photographers will still have a wide
angle. It’s for those times when they can’t stand that far back from the
subjects.
Try:
A flash can make a significant impact on your work. Some family
portrait photographers use all natural light. But sometimes, natural
light won’t give you the best result.
That’s where flash comes in. Unlike studio lights, a flash is easy to
bring on location. You can use one whether you’re photographing families
in a park or shooting lifestyle family photos indoors.
The easiest (and maybe even best) way to use a flash is to create
catchlights in the eyes. All you need is a flash with a diffuser left on
a low manual setting. This means the existing light won’t be affected
much at all.
Flash can also add interest to a shot, prevent you from blowing out the sky in the background and so much more.
The good news is that you don’t need the most expensive flash for shooting a family portrait.
The priciest flashes will reach farther and overpower the sun. But since
you’re (probably) not using a 300mm lens for family photography, that
expensive flash is overkill.
Look for a flash that has manual controls. A range between 1/1 and 1/128
is great for family portraits. The flash should also have an adjustable
tilt to bounce it.
Look at the specs for the zoom range, and make sure that the range
covers the lenses that you use. Most flashes should cover the typical
lenses used for family portraits.
Try:
The key to using flash and actually liking the results is to “clothe” your flash. Avoid shooting with a naked flash.
A flash diffuser will soften the light. It’ll make it look like a flash
wasn’t used at all while still offering the benefits of using one.
Flash diffusers come in different types. The key is to get something
that’s actually larger than the flash head itself. You can pick up a
basic flash soft-box for around $20, or use something like the MagMod
diffuser.
This is my personal choice. It never falls off the flash like the cheaper soft-boxes have a tendency to do.
An alternative to diffusing the flash is to bounce it. Flash bounce
cards allow you to bounce a flash even when you’re not close to a wall.
It creates a similar softer light. And it eliminates those harsh shadows
that make it obvious even to non-photographers that you used a flash.
Another helpful flash accessory are gels. Gels will change the colour of
your flash. I often use an orange flash gel to create a more golden
light that looks closer to a golden hour sun.
Try:
Some flashes have this capability built in, like the Phottix flash
above. All you need is a transmitter or a second flash to use as a
transmitter.
But many of the more budget-friendly flashes don’t have the capability built-in.
Taking the flash off camera allows you to create studio lighting effects
anywhere. It creates more depth to the image than on-camera flash by
creating soft but visible shadows.
Flash transmitters, like lenses, are designed to work with a specific brand of flash. Make sure you pick up a compatible set.
Try:
Unless you happen to work with an assistant, you’ll need a spot to
put that off-camera flash. Tripods will do the trick, and unlike a light
stand, you can also use it to hold your camera if needed.
The best tripods for family photography will be portable but sturdy options. They’re similar to what wedding photographers look for in a tripod.
Family photographers typically don’t need a tripod for the camera. This is because of the fast shutter speeds.
Some kids and even adults can be intimidated by the camera, however.
Leaving it on a tripod and using a remote to snap the photos, is an
option.
Try one of the tripods on this list.
Camera Bag
Pick up a camera bag
with padded dividers for your camera, lenses, flash and other
accessories. Backpacks are more spacious and the double straps can be
more comfortable. Shoulder and sling style bags tend to be more stylish
and offer faster access.
The options for great camera bags are even wider than the number of great cameras out there. Here are a few suggestions.
Along with protecting gear with a proper bag, don’t forget to pick up the essentials for keeping lenses and the camera clean.
Small Accessories for Family Portraits
Sure, the camera, lenses and lighting gear are some of the most
expensive items that you’ll need to buy, but there are a few smaller
essentials too.
When setting your family photography equipment budget, don’t forget to factor in:
Memory cards: Choose something that’s a Class 10 or better to keep up with RAW burst shooting.
Batteries: Make sure you have enough batteries for both the camera and the flash.
Protective lens filters: Keep your lens from scratches with a UV filter.
Reflectors: Reflectors aren’t large enough for big
groups, but you can use one for taking individual portraits of each
family member or for families of 2-3 people.
Non-Photo Accessories for Family Portraits
I also bring along some non-typical accessories that you wouldn’t pick up at a photo store.
These items may not be necessities. But they can add variety and make it easier to get smiles out of the littlest subjects.
I usually bring along a few “smile items” that most kids tend to go
crazy for. For kids a year old and younger, a musical toy can help get
them to look in the direction that you’d like them to.
The more enjoyable the photo experience is for the kids, the better the results.
Depending on the location, I may also bring along a few simple props. A picnic blanket is nice for posing variety, for example.
And don’t laugh, but on many shoots, I bring a step stool so I can get a
greater variety of angles during the shoot. Getting higher up can help
fit more people into a large group, and allows me to play with
perspective.
That’s a lot of gear — so how do you carry it all?
On small shoots, I can fit everything in a backpack and carry a flash-tripod combo. When I need to grab everything, I use a folding wagon.
With any photography gear, it’s important to find a balance. You want
to enough gear to get the shot but not so much you can’t actually bring
it all to the shoot.
The gear you need will also vary based on your style and budget.
Photographers with a light and airy style, for example, don’t use a fill
flash.
Start with a good camera and a lens or two. Then expand with lighting
gear, extra lenses and other accessories as you find your style.
If you’re in doubt about what to buy, try renting equipment. This is
helpful for trying out the most expensive family photography equipment.
Exposure works in three parts: aperture, shutter speed, and then ISO. But what is ISO?
What Is ISO in Photography?
ISO is an important parameter that determines how bright your image
will be. It’s helpful because it gives photographers an extra option to
manipulate their exposures. It gets its name from the International
Standards Organisation, which has set this standard in 1988.
ISO works slightly differently in film and digital cameras. In this first, larger part of the article, we’ll discuss ISO in digital cameras.
Unlike shutter speed and aperture, ISO doesn’t change the amount of
light coming into the camera when brightening or darkening the image.
Rather, it determines how the camera deals with that already set amount
of light after the exposure is done.
So thus ISO generally defines the sensitivity of the sensor or film.
Because of this, it’s not technically a component of exposure.
However, in all practical situations, we’re better off treating it as
one.
Why Do We Use ISO?
We use ISO because the two basic exposure parameters, shutter speed
and aperture, don’t offer enough leeway for creating a correct exposure
under all circumstances.
Both shutter speed and aperture can be used to change exposure, but
they also have important side effects. The shutter speed controls the motion blur. The aperture controls the depth of field and sharpness.
With only these two, you can’t freely combine any shutter speed with any aperture value. The image would be under or overexposed, and hardly ever correct.
So, ISO has been introduced to control brightness independently from
the other two by setting the sensitivity towards the incoming light and
the amount of grain on the picture.
Stops of ISO
ISO can be measured relatively in exposure value stops (or stops).
The camera’s ISO scale is like shutter speed in the sense that when it’s
doubled, the exposure is also doubled. A stop in ISO means double or
half the light compared to the previous stop.
They are proportional to one another. A low ISO number will give a
dark exposure and a high ISO will give a bright exposure. It’s simpler
then aperture.
ISO most often starts at the value of ISO 100. This is the lowest,
darkest setting, also called the base ISO. The next full stop, ISO 200,
is twice as bright, and ISO 400 is twice as bright than that. Thus,
there are two stops between ISO 100 and 400, four stops between 100 and
1600, and so on.
This series goes on, but it has practical limits. Exactly where that limit is, varies from camera to camera.
However, generally, we can use ISO up to ISO 6400 to 25600. This
means 6 to 8 stops of extra brightening potential. In other words, you
can correctly expose for a 64 to 256 times darker environment than at
base setting.
There are also even higher settings included in modern digital
cameras, but they reduce image quality so much that they’re basically
unusable. More on this further down.
When setting the ISO, most cameras offer more precision than just
full stops. You’re more likely to find that all exposure parameters are
variable in 1/3 stop increments.
Changing Exposure with ISO
Let me demonstrate ISO using actual photos as you can see in the slideshow below.
The photos are displayed in the following order: 100, 200, 400, 800,
1600, 3200. The aperture and shutter speed remain constant throughout
them. Only the ISO is changing so that you can see its effect on a
photo.
The ideal exposure is shown in the fourth photo which was taken at ISO 800.
As you may have noticed by now, nothing affects the exposure in one
single way. There are consequences to using different ISO values.
Side Effects of ISO
If we could brighten our images without any penalties, that would be a
paradise for photographers. It would almost be too good to be true.
But it’s not the case: increasing ISO has detrimental effects on image quality, to varying degrees in different cameras.
There are two (almost) separate consequences. For sure, you know one of them: increasing ISO introduces more noise (grain) into an image.
This is because all camera sensors have a certain noise floor. When
you brighten the image, you not only brighten the valuable content, but
also the noise.
The other one is loosely based on the noise floor issue, but worth
mentioning on its own. Increasing ISO also reduces the dynamic range.
The higher you go with ISO settings, the less detail you find in shadow
areas and the sooner bright highlights start to clip.
Lower number = Lower sensitivity = Finer quality photos
To best show how camera ISO affects the image quality, I took another series of photos and displayed them below.
For this experiment, I changed the shutter speed and aperture of each
photo to compensate for the exposure changes. Thus, it’s easier to
compare the difference in quality.
The photos have ISO in the following order: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200.
As you can see, the higher the number, the stronger the noise becomes.
For this reason, I advise keeping your ISO levels as low as possible, but without impacting the image in other ways.
For example, if you’d need to set a shutter speed that introduces
camera shake in the image, it’s much better to set a higher ISO instead.
Reducing noise is possible in editing software, and also in-camera, to
an extent. Correcting motion blur, on the other hand, is nearly
impossible.
So, let’s talk about noise reduction for a minute. There are many kinds of noise reduction software out there. Such algorithms are also built into popular post-production tools, like Lightroom.
But you’ll find that this only “smooths out” the noise.
Excessive noise reduction can result in an airbrushed effect on
faces. It reduces the detail and sharpness in a photo as shown below
(cropped to better show the effect).
It has its uses but in moderation and with consideration as to what you’re using the photo for.
How to use ISO
It’s quite apparent that you should use low ISO in bright environments and higher ISO in darker environments.
But besides the environment, you must also take into account your other two exposure parameters, and set ISO accordingly.
Let me bring a few real-life examples (case studies, if you will) of using ISO.
Scenario 1 – Travel Photography in Daylight
You’re using a 28-70mm lens at 28mm to get a decent, wide field of view.
In bright daylight, you have plenty of light. For casual street and travel
shooting, you want to freeze the motion of people and your own hands.
This will require you to set a shutter speed of 1/250s or faster.
You choose an aperture of f/5.6 because you want most of your image in focus.
Clearly, in this case, you will be using ISO 100. Even so, you might
find yourself actually overexposing – compensate by decreasing your
shutter speed.
Scenario 2 – Family Photo Indoors
You’re in a moderately well-lit room during the afternoon. There is
some natural light leaking in, but not nearly as much as in the previous
case.
You’re using the same lens, but this time at 50mm to get a clean shot of two family members. You open up your aperture to f/4 this time, because you want the two of them fully in focus, but the background blurred.
On this occasion, you can slightly reduce your shutter speed, because
you’ll be holding your camera more steadily, and your subjects will be
posing. Their movement will be much more subtle. You’ll get along with
1/125s.
These circumstances require you to raise your ISO to somewhere
between 400 and 800. Here, you’ll be using ISO only to get the correct
exposure – your other parameters are set.
Scenario 3 – Music Show at Night
You’re in the mosh pit of an outdoors stage.
The musicians are very well-lit, but they’re also moving quite quickly.
You choose to use a longer lens, an 85mm at f/2, to separate one of
them and get a clean image.
You’re limited to 1/400s in shutter speed because you want to fully freeze their motion.
The lights are changing quickly in intensity. So, you decide to grab a
moment when the performer you’re aiming to capture is brightly lit, and
the background is quite dark.
To get a correct exposure on the person, you’ll need to choose a high
ISO setting. This can be anywhere between 1600 and 4000. You’ll get
plenty of noise in the background, but your subject will be
well-exposed, and the picture will look fine.
Scenario 4 – Wildlife in Overcast Weather
Next day, you decide to take on some adventure and capture some wild birds.
You grab your 100-400mm lens, which is not fast but reaches far. The
day is overcast. There is plenty of light, but not as much as if it was
direct sunlight. You like this better because this diffuse and soft
light looks nicer on animals.
To freeze the motion of a bird taking off close-up, you’ll need to choose a very fast shutter speed. At least 1/1000s, but it can go up to 1/4000s. Here, we choose the easier option of 1/1000s.
You’re limited by the f/5.6 aperture of your lens on the zoomed-in end.
In this instance, you’ll need to use a higher ISO setting of 800 to 1600, even outdoors in the daytime.
Scenario 5 – Landscape Photography at Dusk
You’re out in a field, surrounded by beautiful mountainous scenery. You want to capture right at dusk, in the last light of the day.
The light is dim, but fortunately, you have a tripod. This means you
can use basically any shutter speed you want. In this shoot, that will
be your main variable. Your aperture is locked at f/16 for good focus
across the scene.
Your ISO is fixed at 100 – you want the highest possible quality and
detail. As landscape images are more likely to be printed large, this is
more important than, let’s say, in the case of a sports or music show
shoot.
Where Is ISO on my Camera?
To be able to change ISO, you need to set your camera to manual, or one of the semi-automatic modes (S/Tv, A/Av, P).
Depending on the make and model of your camera, there are different ways of adjusting ISO.
On professional and prosumer cameras there is always a separate
button for ISO, without exception. This is because, in a fast-paced
professional environment, you need quick access.
On entry-level DSLR and mirrorless cameras, it’s usually hidden in a menu or accessible by pressing two buttons (or dial and a button) at the same time.
On compact cameras which offer manual control, it’s also in the
menus. If your camera doesn’t offer manual control, it will set the ISO
automatically as well.
ISO Across Cameras
ISO noise and dynamic performance are not the same across all
cameras. There are huge differences, depending on age, sensor size,
camera category, and sensor technology, among others.
Let’s start with age. ISO performance has been one of the
ever-evolving features of digital cameras. Every new generation of
cameras brings lower noise levels, higher dynamic range, and better
low-light performance overall.
Cameras from 2019/2020 give you a 2 to 3-stop advantage over their
precursors from a decade ago because of software and sensor
developments.
At least equally important is the effect of sensor size on low-light
operations. Because smaller sensors get less light when using lenses
with the same f-stop, their ISO noise levels are also higher.
A full-frame camera from the same generation usually performs 1-1.5
stops better than an APS-C crop model. Which, in turn, is 0.5 to 1 stop
better than a camera with a Four Thirds sensor.
Today’s modern full-frame cameras give very usable images up to ISO 25600.
Compact cameras and smartphones, of course, are the losers of this race with their tiny sensors.
Camera category, or price range, is also a determining factor,
although not as much as the prior two. A low-tier model, such as a Canon Rebel, won’t perform as well as a Canon 7D-series
model (both APS-C), even if they’re from the same generation. They also
have identical sensor size, but frankly, more money just buys more
sophisticated technology.
How ISO in Digital Cameras Actually Works
It’s time to get slightly more technical. If you’re aiming to understand how your camera works, read on.
What does ISO mean in a digital camera, really? Nine out of ten
photographers will tell you that ISO refers to the sensitivity of the
image sensor.
This explanation is great for simplified illustration purposes, but
it’s not the full story. Indeed, it is the case if you shoot film, but
not on digital.
To be fair, ISO does behave just as if it was changing sensor
sensitivity. The higher – the more sensitive – it is, the brighter the
outcome will be. The more voltage you send into the sensor, the more
sensitive it becomes. Sounds plausible, right? It’s not.
Rather, ISO determines signal amplification, after the shot has been taken. This amplification can be analog or digital, or both at the same time.
In ISO-variant cameras, such as most Canon models, full stop ISOs are
always amplified in an analog way. Third stops are differentiated with
digital gain. However, due to the circuitry not being optimised for a
set level of gain, and being variable instead, these sensors generally
provide a worse dynamic range.
ISO-invariant cameras make up a majority of modern mirrorless and
DSLR devices, including almost all Nikon, Sony, and Fujifilm models.
These work slightly differently.
In the case of the base ISO (80 or 100 on most cameras), there is
some analog gain applied, but no digital. Thus, the image will be as
clean as possible of noise. At any step above base ISO, there is digital
amplification added, but no analog. This raises the noise floor,
resulting in more visible noise. However, because the system is
optimised for a set level of analog amplification, ISO-invariant cameras
are actually slightly better performers in dynamic range and low-light
noise.
There are some modern digital cameras that are built with a so-called
dual native ISO feature. This essentially means that such cameras have
two base ISOs, with all the advantages that brings. In most cases, these
are 100 and 800. If you’re shooting at any value below 800, you get a
low-level analog amplification and additional digital gain on it above
100.
Once you reach 800, another level of analog gain kicks in, removing
the need for lower-quality digital gain. The noise floor is lowered
again. As you go up from 800, digital amplification is added back again,
but only up from 800. The image quality is thus better at 800 than,
say, 640, or even 400. This technology is a significant step up in
low-light performance.
Cameras that employ this feature are quite rare today and are mostly video cameras. We’ve seen dual native ISO on the Panasonic S1H, the Panasonic GH5S, and the Fujifilm GFX100 cameras most recently.
Is ISO the Same in All Cameras?
Most photographers assume that any concrete ISO value (say, 200)
represents a fixed level of amplification in all cameras. This is not
nearly true.
To understand why, you need to understand how different sensor sizes
influence exposure and other properties. I have written about this in
great length in my article explaining equivalence.
Essentially, even though we have three variables to exposure, only
one of them is an absolute value, shutter speed. Shutter speed will
always be the same and will have the same effect, no matter what camera
use.
Aperture is a tougher question. When we talk about f-stops, we mean relative aperture. F-stop
gives a good indication of the amount of light that falls on a
specifically sized sensor at a set distance from the lens. So, it’s
usable to determine exposure within a given system.
However, when the goal is comparing and standardising exposure
between different sized sensors, it’s less helpful. As I mentioned,
smaller sensors get less light when using lenses with the same f-stop,
in proportion with their surface area.
The point of ISO is to standardise exposures between systems. An
exposure of, say, ISO 100, f/4, and 1/100s, must look identical in every
camera, in terms of luminance.
Consequentially, ISO values mean higher levels of amplification in
smaller-sensor cameras. If we expand this, you’ll also see that higher
resolution cameras need higher amplification than lower resolution ones
at the same size. Thus, pixel-level noise is generally more noticeable
in high-resolution and small-sensor cameras.
Photo by Alex Andrews from Pexels
Raising ISO vs Brightening Your Photo on a Computer
When you step away from your camera and place the image on your
computer, you can’t raise the ISO any more. Editing software such as Adobe Lightroom will only allow you to interpret the digital data that’s already in there.
The exposure slider increases in points. +1 stop looks just as if you
collected one more stop of light. It has a similar effect in overall
tones as raising your ISO from 100 to 200 would have.
As Lightroom can only deal with digital data, tweaking exposure
during editing will generally give you noisier results than correctly
exposing your shot at the first place. Aim to get a correct exposure
during the shoot.
An exception is ISO-invariant cameras. With RAW files from such
cameras, you’re much less limited when setting exposure after the fact.
If you’re using uncompressed files, your image will almost behave as if you were changing ISO, and not seeing much more noise.
Still, you’re better off actually correctly setting ISO, because
previewing your images is easier then. Also, you risk building a bad
habit of forgetting correct exposure, which is detrimental to your
photography in the long run.
ISO in Film Cameras
As I mentioned, the “sensitivity” explanation originates from the film era. When shooting a film camera, you don’t set your ISO at the press of a button.
Instead, each film type has an ISO rating which relates to the
light-sensitive emulsion layer on the film. This rating is also called
speed.
Depending on what you’re shooting, you choose a film that matches
your sensitivity needs. For daylight, you use ISO 100 or 200 film, for
indoors, you generally use ISO 400 film, and so on.
You will find that film and digital both have increased noise levels
at higher ISO settings. However, film noise, or film grain, is generally
considered to look more pleasing. I have to agree with that. While
digital noise can be hurtful to your image, especially if you’re used to
the ‘clean’ look, film grain adds to the image most of the time.
Of course, this is an enormous generalisation, but if you’re ever
thinking about shooting film (or going digital from shooting film), keep
this in mind.
A Short History of the ISO Standard in Photography
The International Standards Organisation (ISO) is an international
body composed of representatives from various national standards
organisations. This is where ISO gets the name from. It was formed in
1947 and has it’s headquarters in Geneva, Switerzland.
Ever since the photographic emulsion was developed, different
countries tried to enforce standards. This is so photographers knew what
sensitivity they could expect from the film.
There were multiple companies and institutions who tried to come up
with a method that classified their film in the most straightforward
way. This was the early process of trying to work out what we now call
film speed.
Numerous standards have been developed before settling at what we
know today as ISO in photography. The most notable of them are the
following:
Hurter and Driffield – These two worked on emulsion
sensitivity since 1890. It was the standard until 1928. Their system
had an inverse system of classification and exposure. The higher the
number, the lower the exposure the emulsion needed.
GOST – From 1928 the Soviet Union used this as
their standard until 1951. They then replaced it with the GOST system,
which was the Eastern version of ASA.
DIN – Deutsches Institut für Normung was introduced
in 1934. They used degrees for classification. A 3° change would either
double or halve the sensitivity.
ASA – American Standards Association started in
1943. A linear scale showed that 400 ASA is twice as fast as 200 ASA,
and 100 ASA is half as fast as 200 ASA. These film classifications have
been kept when the world adopted the ISO photography standard in 1988.
Photo by Tetyana Kovyrina from Pexels
I hope this article has helped you understand and comfortably use ISO on your camera.
I recommend practising manual control of the camera as much as you
can. Being able to adjust all the basic exposure parameters
instinctively will open up new ways in photography, I can promise that.
Once you no longer have to think about all the basic stuff – that’s when your photography really takes off.
Friday, December 3, 2021
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When
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visualize and plan more effectively. Evaluate the angle of light or the
position of the sun, moon or Milky Way using our advanced tools.
Augmented Reality
Photo Ephemeris
on iPhone/iPad includes AR (augmented reality) so you can see the sun,
moon and Milky Way overlaid directly on your device's camera feed -
ideal for scouting future shots on location, or getting perfectly lined
up just before full moonrise.
3D Celestial Sphere
On
desktops or laptops where augmented reality is not possible,
Photo Ephemeris Web includes a 3D Celestial Sphere integrated with the
geodetics and visual search features.
Sunlight, moonlight, starlight in 3D
For
the ultimate 3D photo planning, use The Photographer's Ephemeris 3D, a
unique mobile app for iOS, to see a three dimensional map of the
landscape lit by realistic directional light and shadows - perfect for
landscape photographers composing photos with mountains or hills.
The right light can make a single photo stop you in your tracks.
Imagine a warm, natural glow that makes everyone and everything look
their best. That’s the magic of golden hour photography.
Photo by Ray Bilcliff from Pexels
When Is Golden Hour?
The golden hour starts roughly one hour after sunrise and one hour
before sunset. If you want a more exact time for when the golden hour
starts, you can use a golden hour calculator app like The Photographer’s Ephemeris. Or try other apps like Helios Golden Hour (for iOS) and Blue Hour Calculator (for Android).
You can also use an online golden hour calculator like this one to find out when the golden hours start at a specific location.
The golden hour’s soft, warm, directional light makes it easier to
shoot than the harsh light of a midday sun. Both professional
photographers and beginners prefer to shoot during the golden hours
since it’s easier to work with.
Golden hour gets its characteristic look since the sun is in a lower
position in the sky. Compared to other times of day, golden hour light
is:
Soft: the transition from light to dark is gradual,
creating soft light that’s universally flattering and particularly good
for portraits.
Warm: the low angle of the sun creates an orange glow, associated with calm and happiness.
Directional: since the sun is low in the sky, it’s
easy to create back-lighting, side lighting or front lighting with just
the sun and an inexpensive reflector or a modified fill flash.
Together, those three characteristics form the magic of the golden
hour. All you have to do to take advantage of the golden hours is adjust
your shooting time. And perhaps wake up a little earlier!
Our Top Tips for Shooting During Golden Hour
13. Get the Timing Right
Golden hour is one of the easiest types of natural light to work
with, but it can still go wrong. You can run out of time and have to shoot high ISOs as the light wanes, or take portraits where the subject is squinting.
To avoid rushing, plan on arriving at least an hour before sunset,
depending on the weather conditions. If the weather is cloudy, give
yourself even more time. Overcast days don’t provide quite the same
magic, but the type of light is still soft and directional.
12. Position the Shot to Make the Most of Golden Hour
If you’re new to working with light, pay attention to the sun’s position for the best quality of light. For portrait photography,
arrange your shot so that the sun is to the side. If you are not
shooting a portrait, the sun should be in front of your subject. Don’t
use front lighting from the sun for portraits, or you’ll get a squint.
One of the best uses for the golden hour is back-lighting. Placing the sun behind your subject gives you that magical glow.
11. Choose the Best Golden Hour Camera Settings
Shoot in manual mode
to make the most of back-lighting and to adjust exposure. Or in a
semi-manual mode such as aperture priority with spot metering.
Spot metering tells the camera to expose for wherever the focal point
is, instead of considering the entire scene. Without spot metering,
you’ll most likely end up with a dark subject or even a silhouette.
On most DSLRs, there’s a physical shortcut for the metering mode. On many models, you can also adjust metering mode inside the menu.
Another great way to shoot with golden hour backlight is to use a reflector. Bounce some of the light back on the subject, creating a more even exposure. A low-powered flash with a diffuser also does the trick.
If I can’t juggle the reflector in the right spot, I use a hot shoe
flash on-camera, but on a low setting with a diffuser. An orange gel is
also helpful – the color helps the flash blend in with the ambient, or existing, light.
Golden hour settings vary based on the exact light and the subject.
For portraits, I shoot with a low aperture, around f/1.8 to f/2.8. If
I’m shooting a couple or a group, I use a narrower aperture to keep all the faces in focus.
I often use aperture priority mode
and increase the ISO as the sun goes down. For landscapes, particularly
if you use a tripod, you can keep the ISO low and lengthen the shutter
speed as the sunlight wanes.
Another potential pitfall to look out for are lens flares. Adjust your position, use a lens hood or find a way to incorporate them artistically into the shot.
Back-lighting can sometimes be tough for budget lenses, so check your
focus to make sure you got it sharp before leaving the scene.
The light changes quickly during the golden hour. You’ll want to
watch your settings and adjust as the light fades. You might have to
increase your ISO, widen the aperture or lower the shutter speed as the
amount of sunlight decreases.
10. Avoid Unwanted Shadows
When taking portraits, the light direction has an important effect on
how they will look. You should avoid vertical lights coming from above
your model because they create ugly shadows on the face.
An especially unflattering effect in portrait photography is “raccoon
eyes”. This is where the eyebrows cast a shadow over the eyes, making
them look like dark circles. This is not the case with golden hour
photos. The light comes from a low angle, illuminating the model’s face
from the side, not from above.
You might need to deal with other shadows, but you can save yourself
so much pain in post-processing just for avoiding the raccoon eyes
effect.
9. Use the Warm Golden Hour Colors to Add Positive Energy
Colors
are a strong compositional tool in photography that can be used to
convey mood. One of the main traits of the golden hour is its
characteristic color palette: yellows, oranges, reds.
All of these are warm colors (between 1000 and 4000 on the Kelvin colour-temperature scale). Warm colors
evoke positive feelings such as happiness, excitement, and optimism.
For that reason, images taken during the golden hours have positive
energy associated with them.
It makes your photography look a bit magical, hence the golden hour’s nickname as “magic hour”.
Portraits also benefit from the golden hour because the quality of
light makes skin tones look better. The yellow-red hue of the light
makes the skin look warmer rather than neutral or cold.
8. Use Creative Side Light
During the golden hour, sunlight hits the subject from only one side.
This results in one side of your subject being shadowed. This is why it
is also called split lighting.
Shadows add texture and depth to the portrait. They give it a
different look than a front light. It also adds a bit of drama, but not
as much as when you try this lighting in a studio.
7. Make the Most of Natural Backlight Photography
The light’s angle during golden hour is perfect for some backlight
photography. This occurs when the light comes from behind your
model/subject. And it gives you a lot of artistic possibilities.
You can get a dramatic effect when the object you are shooting has
some degree of translucence. The translucent part of the subject will
have a strong light intensity, and the opaque part will be darker. This
makes the subject seem to glow.
It is even more evident when the background is dark. The contrast
between the translucent and the opaque areas also makes the photo look
more dynamic.
Translucent parts can be; hair, feathers, leaves, flowers, etc.
6. Shoot Towards the Sun to Create Silhouettes
The golden hour is a great opportunity to create silhouettes.
A silhouette is when the subject of your photo is blacked out, and the
background is well exposed. They work especially well with subjects that
have an easily recognisable shape.
The high contrast with the subject and the lack of detail make
silhouettes a great way to add drama and mystery to your photo. You can
create them by shooting towards the light source (in this case the sun)
and placing your subject between you and that source.
Exposure is important in order to get nice silhouettes. You need to
set your exposure settings so that the brightest part of the image would
be at optimal exposure. In our case, we want to capture the sky with
all its colors and details. Under such settings, your subject will be
extremely underexposed.
One thing that helps me when I am taking silhouettes is to imagine
that the most important thing in the photo is the background. Then I
expose the image to get it well. I use spot metering mode, and I meter
by focusing on the background.
I adjust the exposure accordingly, and before taking the photo, I
change the focus to the actual subject I want to shoot. The camera will
say that it is underexposed, but that’s not a problem, we already have
the settings the way we want them.
5. Have Fun With Starburst
Starburst is one of my favourite optical effects. Here’s how to create them.
First, set your aperture to a high value (ideally f/16 or f/22). Then,set
the shutter speed and the ISO to underexpose the image by two stops.
The sun will be in the frame. If you don’t underexpose it, you might end
up with too much light in your photo.
Starburst is easier to get if you have the sun as small as possible.
In other words, if the sun is a bit covered by something. When the sun
is high in the sky, it might be difficult to find objects that can hide
the sun. You might find yourself limited in terms of angles and
perspectives.
But since the sun is in a lower position during golden hour. You can
get interesting starburst then. You can use your model to cover the sun.
Be creative and have fun! But be safe too. Don’t look directly at the
sun. The lens concentrates the light just like a magnifying glass, so
don’t use the eyepiece if you don’t have protection!
Instead, you can use the screen display and don’t forget to consult your camera manual for details.
4. Get Out Early to Avoid the Crowds
If you like taking photos of empty landscapes, early golden hour is a
perfect time to take photos. Most people venture outside later. During
these early hours, you can enjoy the beautiful golden hour light, a calm
location and some privacy.
Another thing to take into account is cleanliness. In most places,
cleaning is done at the end of the day or at night. If you wake up
early, chances are that you will arrive at a clean location.
This is a very busy spot usually, but during the morning golden hour I was almost alone.
3. Use Long Shadows as Part of the Composition
Shadows add texture and detail to the image. They give a sense of
volume and depth. During the golden hour, due to the position of the
sun, you will have long shadows. You can use these to emphasise elements
in the photo such as sand dunes, grooves etc.
You can also take photos of the shadows of your models. And you can
use the shadows as a photo composition element. Shadows can balance the
warm reds and yellows from the sun with their darker colours.
You should also remember your own shadow because it might get in the
way and ruin the photo. This is especially important if you want to take
photos with the sun behind you. Just be aware of your shadow and make
sure to check where it is before you press the shutter release.
If your shadow is in the image, move around and place yourself so
that your shadow falls outside of the photo frame. Unless you want to
take creative photos with your shadows!
Look how long a shadow can get during the golden hour!
2. Make Everyday Sights Magical
Everything under this light seems beautiful and dreamy. You can use
this to your advantage and take beautiful photos even when your subject
might not look so spectacular. Dry vegetation, lonely trees, old fences,
empty paths – these can all turn into photography subjects.
If you want to give a sense of nostalgia to your landscape
pictures that might otherwise look barren or hard, I recommend you take
photos during the golden hour. It adds gold tints and soft light
effects that will make the image easier to relate to.
1. Capture the Most Beautiful Sunrises and Sunsets
I have always loved sunrises and sunsets. And since becoming a
photographer, the number of sunrise and sunset I’ve witnessed has
increased. It’s easy to miss these in our daily lives. We’re tired, or
sleeping in, or busy doing other things.
Chasing the golden hour will give you the motivation to jump out of bed to catch that magical light. And you won’t regret it.
You will see beautiful scenes, and you will capture them with your
camera. You can also bring your friends, family or even dates to keep
you company. Or you can venture out yourself and enjoy some
well-deserved peace and quiet.
Shooting during the golden hour has a lot of advantages. You can
emphasise textures and get creative with long shadows. Try some
backlight photography or have some fun creating silhouettes.
You will also enjoy some beautiful warm colors. Just take your camera
and get ready to catch the golden lights of the sunrise and sunset!
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