From my first shoot, i reflected that i needed to get more shots of people around the farm, for which i will return at Easter time so there will be more people around the farm. I wanted them to be natural, outdoor shots of them interacting with the animals and in the farm shop.
As so far my shots have mainly been landscape and macro, i chose to create a test film of portraits and action shots, to ensure i am prepared for visiting the farm. It will enable me to get the best out of my visit, by having a better understanding of creating portraits in natural lighting, and with a landscape background. Also, a few of my animal shots were blurred due to movement, so capturing movement shots will help me document the animals.
I worked with natural lighting, and artificial. I actually found working outdoors much easier, as i find the lighting more flattering and it is easier to move the model to get the desired composition. The negatives have come out well, with most being well exposed.
In both these images, the models are almost evenly lit by the sun across their faces. But the background makes a huge difference to the frame. In the first frame, the bright sky distracts from the portrait, where as the trees in the second create a complementary contrast which makes the models stand out from the landscape.
In these two portraits the model is facing away from the light source. It creates unflattering shadows and grey tones, instead of highlighting the features. Again in the second frame, the bar of light across the top of the frame cuts across the composition, making it look almost like two separate frames. In the first portrait, a closer frame could’ve worked better to keep the focus on the model.
Waiting until the models had natural expressions worked really well to create a happy portrait. This conveys a much lighter emotion of enjoyment than the posed ones do, but for this the models have to feel comfortable to let their guards down to be able to capture that natural enjoyment. When photographing children around the farm, it may be much easier to get natural enjoyment than adults, that are always more cautious of the camera.
I used 125th second to capture movement, and it worked sufficiently to freeze the frame. I enjoy these images as i can feel the free movement of the models, as they look like they are having fun. With the movement, they become part of the landscape and the lighting on a whole blends together.
For a more artistic approach, the lighting can be used to create highlights and shadows in a dramatic way. Natural lighting is often a more subtle approach, with artificial light (last pic) making more intense contrasts. Here i have exposed for the highlights, making the shadows very deep.
Chloe Lomax 