magdacoulterphotography
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in my house near Vancouver, BC. I enjoy using window light whenever I can.Time
The noonish light coming through the window was very bright. I watched my daughter sitting quietly in a chair, looking at our new puppy sleeping in a wide pocket of sunlight coming through the patio door. I wanted to capture that moment but needed to play with the light to create a softer, yet slightly moody atmosphere.Lighting
I covered the patio door with sheer fabric and blocked 3/4 of it with a black foam core board to create narrow beam of light. I wanted the light to only highlight her face keeping the rest of the image dark.Equipment
This image was shot with my Nikon D750 and the 105 mm lens using only the natural light coming through my big patio door.Inspiration
I think I speak for all parents when I say, I enjoy those little, quiet moments. We don't get many of them, but I wish I could bottle them up and keep them for later use! I think that photographing those moments is what photography is all about.Editing
I shoot RAW and Lightroom is definitely my 'go to' tool. I do most of my post production in Lightroom and a few last touch-ups in Photoshop. I try to keep my images looking as close to what I saw through my viewfinder as I can. Keeping my images as natural and true to reality preserves the moment that I captured with the click of the shutter.In my camera bag
I have been shooting Nikon, it seems like forever. I love my Nikon 105 mm lens but lately I enjoy the simplicity of the 50 mm lens. I am eying the new 35 mm Sigma ART lens. As you can tell, I prefer prime lenses over zoom lenses but I am happy to shoot with pretty much anything.Feedback
Window light can be one of the best light sources you can ask for but it can also be challenging. Creating this portrait required a little preparation but it wasn't hard to achieve the desired look. The light was very harsh but defusing it with a sheer fabric and controlling how much of it falls on my subject with the use of black foam boards gave me the quality of light to achieve the mood I was going for. I exposed for the brightest part of the image (her face) to make sure I don't lose any detail. In Lightroom I lifted the shadows slightly and adjusted contrast and saturation to make the image pop. I tried different angles and framing to see what worked best. The use of negative space seemed to work best with how I wanted to capture this moment.