Wedding photography NJ lighting - By: Peter Ciresa

Lighting for Photography Portraits

The single most important element of any portrait is the lighting. The lighting tells the story of the person’s journey through life. With beautiful lighting one can accentuate all the best features of a persons face, either with natural light of with lighting equipment.
The lighting should have a gradual transition from shadow to highlight, let the lighting wrap around the face for the best effect. The best way achieve this is by positioning your subject near a north facing window, then on the opposite side or the window place a reflector so the light bounces off the reflector and back into the subject face, thus filling in the shadow area. Usually you do not want the shadows to go black, but have a little bit of light in them, otherwise the portrait will look to dark.
Use an open door or north facing window for natural light. Make sure the subject has light in their eyes. The real key to lighting is to have the eyes light up. This can only be achieved with large source open lighting. Their can also be done with artificial lighting from a soft box. Use a soft box as though you were posing by an open window. Use a reflector to fill in the shadows. The use of a hair light is also desirable indoors and outdoors if you can possible find the best location.
Natural light is so beautiful when done right. You should place the subject near the open source of light, then position yourself with the light source on your side or on your back. Then notice how the light changes when the model moves her head. If you take a photograph looking into the light source you will be creating a silhouette.
When you do not have natural lighting available then you need to create an artificial source of light that will mimic the way natural light looks. This can be achieved simply by using a radio controlled light on a stand. Bounce the light off the ceiling. Make sure the ceiling is white, otherwise it will give you color crosses that may be difficult to correct. Use a fill light on your camera to fill in the shadows and the eye sockets. Never let the eye sockets go dark, which can happen if you only rely on bounce lighting.
A lighting umbrella is an excellent way to do portraits on location. If you will be photographing in one location set up an umbrella with powered lights and a fill flash from your camera. This way the exposure you get from the flash. Keep this relationship in mind so that the indoor lighting looks more natural, you will be creating lighting that has the beautiful transition from light highlights to deep shadows. It creates a much more interesting and pleasing portrait then just plain flat lighting you would get with an on camera flash.
Carefully analyze the lighting and the exposure; always try to balance the background light to match the foreground. This will help in printing. The one thing that is certain is you can not add light after the picture is taken. That lighting scenario has to be done when the picture is taken. You can lighten a portrait but you can not change the lighting of the portrait that must be done before you snap the shutter.
Keep in mind that you can use natural light when it is available. The natural light should be modified with the use of a reflector. Avoid harsh direct lighting that will not flatter your subject. When you must use artificial light you can either bounce the light off the ceiling or use an umbrella. This is good when you are on location and can set up in one location. Use a tripod and balance the background by adjusting your time exposure.
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