All about that bass ukulele.
Apr, 2018Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this in my living room next to the front window. My North-South facing house doesn’t get a lot of light and this is one of my favourite spots for casual portraits. My dogs like it too.Time
This would have been taken around mid-morning. With the window facing South, this would be well before the sun made its way around the house. The light is more diffuse this time of day. I remember it was taken on a week-end and the mood was relaxed.Lighting
I never use a flash, partly because I don’t really know how (and I’m not keen to learn how) but mainly because I love the challenge of shooting in natural light, or rather available light, be it natural or otherwise. Natural light has its own challenges, of course. Being aware of shadows, backlighting and ever-changing exposure.Equipment
This was shot on a Canon 1D Mark lV using a macro USM lens: Canon 100mm f/2.8Inspiration
I remember it was unplanned. I had been taking shots of my parrotlet using the macro lens and noticed my step-daughter playing my bass ukulele by the window light. She’s a favourite subject and having a theatre background, a natural in front of the camera, be it a posed shot or otherwise. I quickly adjusted my settings and took a series of shots. The tricky thing about using the macro lens as a portait lens is it has a very shallow depth of field, something to keep in mind when you consider your aperture-iso-depth of field triangle. More often than not, I miss these moments because my camera is not at hand. I have learned over the years to keep it close by with a favourite lens attached. A few quick adjustments and I’m ready to shoot!Editing
I took this photo right before I started using Lightroom cc so I am likely to have used a mobile app (like Snapseed) to tweak it a little and convert to black and white. It might be a very different edit if I processed it today,In my camera bag
I always have my camera body (since this shot, I have upgraded to a Canon 5D Mark lV) and 2 prime lenses: my Canon 35mm f/1.4 and Sigma Art 85mm f/1.4. As well, I pack extra batteries and SD cards as well as some cleaning supplies in a ziplock back. This is what I lug around like a handbag anytime I am out because you never know when the opportunity to shoot will come about.Feedback
Find a spot in your house that you love with good natural light and practice shooting with different subjects like the people you live with and maybe even some pets, playing with different lenses and camera settings. Change your vantage point, move your subject around and adjust for the light source. Notice how your shot changes with these adjustments. Bonus tip: remove background clutter unless it adds to the shot. Try the same spot at different times of the day.
