Photography is "Painting with Light"

Everywhere around us is panic and fear. We are living through the strangest and most surreal time of our lives - Lockdown - not only in our country, but around the world. Children are home from school, parents have become teachers... For me as a self-employed photographer, I find myself without any income or idea when I might work again? But that doesn't mean I have to put my camera down. I will be sharing some free lessons, hints, tips and challenges with all those Home Educating. Please leave comments below if you or your children have any questions.

I shared a challenge today in Hertfordshire Free Classes and Tutorials asking children to shoot using hard and soft light, finding patterns and was really pleased to see people taking part.

Photo Challenge using hard light in Hertfordshire

Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light.

Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography. - George Eastman

I really love hard light, such as that from direct sunlight in the photo taken above by a 13 year old boy who took part in my challenge. Hard light creates dark shadows with very distinct edges, As opposed to soft light where the distinction between highlights and shadows blends. If you are taking photos of your children during this time, you may find soft light creates a nicer photo. On a bright day, you can find soft light in the shadows, or on a cloudy day, the clouds act as a natural diffuser, like a soft-box in a photography studio.

I took a few examples while out on our walk today to demonstrate why you may prefer to seek out soft light and how to do it. In this first one the boys were sitting on a log. In the hard light, my eldest son had lots of shadows on his face from his hair which are distracting... I simply moved them to the other side of the log where there was shadow.

Brothers sitting on a log in the forest in strong hard sunlight

Brothers sitting on a log in the forest in soft sunlight

Hard Light Soft Light

What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time. - John Berger

In this second example, I quite like the hard light, but just by taking a step forward into the shadow I feel there is less distraction. It does feel a little dull though. If this were a real photography session, I would probably have taken a reflector with me to brighten up his face, and would add a little more contrast during editing, but for the purposes of these photos I've uploaded the SOOC (straight out of camera).

Standing in the forest in bright hard sunlight

Standing in the forest on a bright day in soft sunlight from shadows

Hard Light Soft light

I hope you've enjoyed these little tips. Please let me know if there are any other topics you'd like me to cover?

In the meantime, if you'd like some more in depth photography training to keep the kids occupied, please contact me about online 1:1 photography classes.

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A picture of Santa and me...

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... Buy one, Get one Free*

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Unbelievable Photography deals Black Friday 2020

by Joanne Lewis • 26 November 2020

I couldn't let Black Friday 2020 go by without some amazing deals for my wonderful and valued customers... I've missed you all so much this year, but have loved the few shoots I was able to squeeze in between lockdowns and Home Education. With all the optimism I can muster for next year (I am naturally a pretty positive person) I am offering some spectacular deals on vouchers for my Hertford Studio and outdoor or on-location sessions next year (packages may be given as gifts, but please confirm preferred locations around Hertfordshire and some parts of London, Cambridgeshire and Essex with me before booking).