Wow, great shot! Did you use any flash, or did you meter on your son with the natural backlight? I ask because whenever I try to expose with that much backlight I end up blowing out the background (which I am not appreciating here).
jason.alabama wrote:
Wow, great shot! Did you use any flash, or did you meter on your son with the natural backlight? I ask because whenever I try to expose with that much backlight I end up blowing out the background (which I am not appreciating here).
I'm sure Lisa will answer, but if you read prior posts she says no flash or reflectors were used.
A things may help you with your problem. First, be sure to shoot very late in the day. Also, do like Lisa does and choose an area where there will be lots of skylight behind you. You may need to go manual. Adjust so your histogram raises the background to pretty light without clipping.
Finally, Lisa raises the subject with adjustment masks (and other tools) to make the faces brighter.
dmacmillan is correct - I did not use anything other than natural light here. To get this kind of a look, I shoot very late in the evening - literally, the last couple of minutes as the sun is setting. I filter the sun through something to avoid too much haze (tall grasses in this case). I also make sure there is open sky behind me to illuminate my subject's face. I always spot meter and expose 1 or 2 clicks right of center for the skin.
Here is the before and after of this image so you can see what the SOOC looked like.
Lisa,
Thanks for posting the SOOC. I think that will help jason and others get an idea of your lighting and exposure. It will also give them an idea of the contribution PP plays in you realizing your final image.
It's interesting that the facial tonality didn't change that much.
I think folks tend to shoot too early. I encourage Jason and others to experiment, go out and shoot until it is so dark the camera has a hard time focusing or you find yourself shooting wide open at ISO 3200 at 1/30 second. There's a magic window that starts about 20 minutes before too dark where the light just glows.
I also find I have better control by shooting a little flat (low contrast). Too me it's easier to increase contrast in post than to reduce it. It is also helpful at times to boost the contrast in one part of the tones, such as the mids, while leaving the highlight and shadow contrast lower.
Yep, that is the magic hour! The last 1/3 of the golden hour and even right after the sun goes down. You can still get great rim lighting even after the sun is below the horizon, and it's soft and not blown out - very pretty!
Katie - sort of. She's a cross between a buff orpington hen and a Rhode Island red roo. We hatched her ourselves. That cross makes the prettiest hens - they have a really pretty caramel coloring.
Lisa and dmacmillian - I really appreciate the comments. I had seen that no reflectors were used, but I missed the no flash part. Sorry about that, I do try to read through the entire post, but that one slipped by. Anyway, my goal is to take better pictures of my daughter as she grows up (now 9 months), and I find your input very helpful in that regard.
jason.alabama wrote:
. Anyway, my goal is to take better pictures of my daughter as she grows up (now 9 months), and I find your input very helpful in that regard.
Keep shooting! Congrats on your daughter. I was going through some old negatives and slides today and found one of my older son when he was 1 month old, sleeping in a bassinet that I slept in - and my mother slept in - and her mother slept in. Doug is now 40!
Lisa, we need to see one photo with all 10 of them! You owe us that........how about it! I can only imagine the logistics nightmare and crabbing of some that want nothing to so with it..........but I and I am sure others would like to see the entire team....if you have one more, you can play either offense or defense in football......or you can play softball now with a roving outfielder......at any rate your team is ready....let's see the team photo!
Here you go Herb! This is far from perfect but it's the most recent I have of everyone. It was 112 degrees this day and a few were recovering from whooping cough so not everyone looks thrilled, but it is what it is.
When I was a kid, my parents had friends that had 12 kids....I lived to go over there because you could always find someone to play with....it was awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
By the way I was just visiting with a dear friend of mine and we were talking about older sisters...it was funny to hear him say I have 8 older sisters....I think there were like 12 or so in his family as well....in fact I seem to remember him telling me at one point his oldest sister was pregnant at the same time his mom was pregnant with him.....and yes the sister was married...I want to say she is like 22 years or so older....
You have a beautiful family Lisa. You and your husband have been truly blessed. Thanks for sharing them with us. You have posted loads of great images, but the ones with your children always seem to be a little more special.
Regards
Ed
She's a cross between a buff orpington hen and a Rhode Island red roo. We hatched her ourselves. 
That cross makes the prettiest hens - they have a really pretty caramel coloring.