today i'm going to show you a portrait photography trick that is so simple
all you have to do is open the door hey guys i'm rafael and welcome to the channel
you know when someone asks you to take their portrait because you take such great photos
but you're not set up for it or even in the mindset to grab that photo and you know that
their expectation is high to look as good as all the other people that you photographed but
it's the middle of the day the light outside is terrible and the indoor light is equally as great
photography literally translates to drawing with light and photographers we are taught to paint
with light we're light painters too many times we think photography requires lights setup modifiers
bouncers reflectors the right time of day golden hour nice weather scouting for the right location
and the list can go on and on and we think that it can take a couple hours to find the right shot
well what happens when you have five minutes to grab a shot and all you have is your camera
would you be able to capture a great shot today i'm going to show you one simple trick to get a
photo in almost any location during the harshest light with no setup time and no lights when i was
first starting out i learned this simple setup from an actor friend who asked for a new headshot
i said i didn't have any lights and they said no problem and they showed me a setup that another
photographer used with no gear it's really a portrait or headshot trick that works so well
the main idea is to use the front door or any outside doorway as your main source of light
and to make sure that you're not in direct sunlight the subject stands just a few feet inside
the doorway and you stand outside shooting in the light bounces naturally all around creating this
giant soft beauty light it really doesn't matter what lens you have but the best lens is a 50 mil
85 100 or longer but a 35 will work just as well and the faster the lens the better
this effect will work because the depth of field helps enhance the
effect but it's not necessary even with a messy garage with a shallow depth of field
and the focus right on the model it just becomes texture in the background the main magic on why
it works being just out of direct sunlight it creates a giant soft box that is flagged
off and the inverse square light falloff the brightest thing in the shot will be the subject
it creates this natural vignette it's essentially a giant natural beauty light i recreated a 3d
model to show how it's essentially working and how it emulates lighting on the subject and because
the light falls off so quickly it creates a high contrast ratio between the face and the background
really pulling viewers focus on the subject the only things that you really need to be aware
of is if it is midday and it's really bright the model still may find it hard to keep from
squinting so in this case have them keep their eyes closed till right before you snap the photo
or have them move further back into the room but keep in mind not to block the light source
too much the other thing is to watch out for any solid colors that may cast light onto the subject
neutral colors are the best and because this is a single light source there is no backlight for
separation from the background but again we're trying to do with no setup and no lights the main
reason i suggest using the front door the depth that you're able to get from the front door and
the fall off of the light is the best at that location things to make sure you look out for
make sure you turn off all the lights indoors to create that higher contrast ratio you can draw
the blinds and the drapes and just work with what you have in the scene so look through your lens
and make sure there isn't anything distracting that you can see if you have a faster and longer
lens none of that will really matter and it'll just become texture in the background once you
grab a few different photos you can finesse it in post and really draw the eye where you
want with cropping and playing with the shadows highlights gradients and tones in lightroom these
are just a few examples of photos i've taken in the past few months using this technique
do this is a super simple trick to grab really nice photos with nearly no setup or lights this
concept works really well with street photography finding an area that is just outside of the
sunlight and that falls into darker shadows so a recap use the door as your main light source
turn off all the lights behind the longer the lens you can use and the faster the lens the
better the focus will be on the face try to avoid any kind of color cast that could come from the
location that you're at play with the cropping and the edit in lightroom and you're going to be
able to create some amazing photos and this trick really works regardless of the lighting condition
outside it could be cloudy sunny raining it really doesn't matter because the focus
really comes down to the subject and the way the camera lens is looking it's one of my favorite
ways to grab quick awesome photos in almost any location regardless of the time of day
the lighting conditions outside almost every location has this beauty light built into it and
i love utilizing it every single time next time you're out and about with your camera give this
technique a try and see what you can come up with that's it let me know if you guys are going to
try this technique out or if you've used something similar i'd love to hear your thoughts about it as
always thanks for watching if you like these kind of videos make sure you give me a big thumbs up it
lets youtube know to share this video subscribe i'm rafael i'll talk to you soon bye for now you