12 days of Christmas photography tips. Day three, tip three: Low Light Photography.

Lighting Part 2

Low Light Photography. When Night Time Falls (even if that happens at 15.30pm!)

Before we begin, for those of you using cameras where you can adjust the ISO, to get the best results  you will beed to push that up as far as you can being mindful of the fact that the further you increase it the more grain appears in the image. For everyone else using automatic settings on cameras or iphones/tablets you need not worry. These devices are quite exceptional at dealing with low light but holding them exceptionally still or mounting them on a tripod will yield better results for this type of photography.


So, Rather than grumble at the pesky lack of light which I often do at this time of year, my aesthetic as a natural light baby and children photographer resting on it, let us find some ways to embrace it.

These photos where taken in the middle of a room and lighting wise there is a wall lamp to Alana's right hand side (you can see how the side of her face is lit by it) which is strongest of the light sources at play here in the room. The rest of the light, the ambient light within the room, comes from different places some of which is provided by the TV flickering in the background. These different sources of light within the room make for an arty, moodily lit image of Alana opening her advent Calendar.

What additionally adds interest are the colourful Christmas lights in the background which (as I briefly mentioned in day 1 tip one) if your subject is clearly in focus in the foreground then the lights in the backgrund will blur to great effect. This is called Bokeh and it is a very pretty effect that I love.

Extra tip: We asked Alana to save the opening of her advent calendar that day for me to photograph and it doesn't hurt when photographing children to set up a scene or a scenario as we have here. I ensured that the pretty Christmas lights would be visible in the background and then I set Alana up on her little table and seat and asked her to open her advent calendar. By doing this, photographing something real happening which in this case was the excitement of finding out what was in the advent Calendar draw, you are capturing a sincere response whatever that response may be. This can really make the photo.

This image above is lit by the blue light of the television. Alana was very involved in watching her program which meant I had opportunity to get a candid photo of Lani, a sweet profile shot lit from an unusual but effective light source. To maximise this effect make sure all other lighting in the room is switched off so the only source of light is the TV, you can create some very arty shots this way.


The image below goes some way to showing you how this may look. The room was very dark and an iphone was being used to add some light to a shoe that was proving rather difficult to do up. The light looked so beautiful on the faces of all involved I wanted to capture it.

If you try any of these tips do send me your photos I'd love to see them and if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.

However, if you are in that, 'OMG, I totally want a great family photo' place but are overwhelmed by doing it yourself then never fear, help is here! Click here to contact me so you can check this off your list. Easy Peasey

Sammi Sparke Photography working between Sheffield, Cambridge and London

12 days of Christmas photography tips. Day two, tip two: The beauty ofdaylight

Daylight Portraits - Window light

My fabulous Grandfather, lit by window light. 

These often dull winter days that close in before we even get going don’t lend themselves well to beautiful, naturally lit photos indoors.

When using your phone it seems any kind of movement ends up looking very blurred when you look at the photo after and this is becuase your camera phone isn't great at compensating for low light.

...If you have the new iphone7 you may already know it has been commended for its 'stunning' low light performance. I'd love to know what you think if you have one.  

What you need to bear in mind is that even professional cameras struggle in low light and require the ISO setting to be increased to avoid capturing unwanted blurring.

So if capturing moving subjects without the blur is something you want to master on these dull winter days and over the Christmas period you simply have to make sure there is enough good light available to shoot in.

This means shooting indoors between the hours of 9am and and 3pm, or finding the lightest room in your house to take the photos in. Whichever room you take your photos in make sure the light from a window is shining directly on the subject, and be sure to make sure you are not standing in front of the window when you take your photos or you will block out part of that available light. You may even want to turn the lights on in the house but beware when you have daylight and tungsten light in an image some of the colours can look a little strange.

. If approximately, why not place your subject next to the window. Here you have a strong light source where you will notice higher degrees of light and shadow on the face that make for quite arty photos.

This is Edna, a lovely elderly lady I used to visit when I was at university. 

Sometimes we forget to take photos of grandparents at Christmas yet for me there is such beauty to be found in an elderly face; a whole life imprinted in the lines and tones. Why not try taking some photos of your elderly guests this Christmas. One thing is for sure, when those elderly relatives come to pass no one ever says, 'I wish we had LESS photos' of nan or granddad. 

Another interesting affect comes from bringing your subject further into the room away from the window. Here you will notice that you don’t have the problems of strong light or shadow, instead you get a more even spread of light. This is Caroline from a maternity shoot we did this summer. She is lit from a far away window the other side of the room. This lighting is far more painterly, and subtle and gives muted tones to the image.  

Have fun playing about but always make sure when you bring your subject further into the room that they are facing that light source and your back is to it  …. and try not to block out that light source with your body, which is easy to do! Stand just at the side of the window when taking photos.

12 days of Christmas photography tips. Tip one - For the love of Christmas lights.

For the Love of Christmas Lights...

If you want to take some really beautiful photos of your children/family this Christmas then planning your shot makes all the difference.  My best images of children have involved a bit of planning, thought about backdrop, time playing around with framing the shot and of course a happy and content subject.

In the Pre-Christmas build up there are a number of opportunities perfect for making into keepsake photos.

Christmas lights add the 'wow' factor to photos.

If you are looking to get a couple of really cute Christmas photos of your children, maybe even a special photo to put on a Christmas card for the family, then why not try a bit of Christmas bokeh?

What is 'bokeh'? Well bokeh is a blurred light effect that you will already be familiar with even if you hadn't realised what it was called. Check out the photo at the top of this post to see what i'm talking about.

To create a shot similar to the one at the top of the post (or the one up next) there are a couple things you need to do.

Follow these steps:

First, turn the main overhead lights down a little (well this is my preference but you can play around and see what you prefer). If you do this you might need some kind of additional light source to light your subject's face if your camera phone struggles with the lack of light.

Bring your subject just a couple of feet in front of the Christmas lights and stand or sit them down. Make sure the Christmas lights are on!

Using your phone,frame the image with the subject either in the centre or to one side. Make sure you leave enough space at either side of the subject and over their head so you can see the lovely lights - like the photos in this post.

When you have framed your image touch the screen where your subject 's face is. You will see their face come into focus and become sharp and the Christmas lights behind them begin to blur beautifully.

You may need to play around with the distance you leave between your subject and the Christmas lights behind them - the nearer or further they are from the lights will give you slightly different effects.

I'd love to know how you get on and even better to see some of your photos if you'd like to share? 

My New Website. To thine own self be true.

I have a brand new website. Yay!

It is a site, a site which has taken an inordinate length amount of time to come to fruition.

www.sammisparke.com

I knew almost exactly a year ago it had to be done. I already had a website, two in fact; one for the babies, children, family and wedding photography I did and the other for the corporate, business, event and commercial work I undertook but here was the problem apparently. 

I needed all my work in one place.

I understand the advice. It was advice I took from the hugely knowledgeable South Yorkshire based PR guru #FayeSmith whilst i was on her February #BrandBooster course.

It turned out my brand was a little confused.

What this year of putting the website together has achieved, aside from a pretty fab website, is that it has lead me to a much better understanding of the type of photographer I want to be and therefore how i need to proceed, the work I need to prioritise, my desired cliental and how exactly to market myself.

Courses like Brand Booster in Sheffield, UK, run by Faye Smith, are exceptional at cementing in place in your own mind and the consciousness of the people around you who you are, what you do and how you do it.

So far this seems like a thinly veiled promotion for the Sheffield Brand Booster - I assure you it's not (though if you are a new or struggling business I cannot recommend courses like BB enough).

What this is about is an explanation for what you see now as my current website - my contemporary portfolio of work.

So here we go... this is my raison d'etre or maybe more accurately the motivation behind the madness: 

My updated website's home page shows mainly the creative, lifestyle family photography I do. It includes primarily baby, children and family photoshoots, wedding photography and artistic photoshoots. 

It is my ambition to do more of these types of shoots and my ambition for each type of work correlates with the order I've mentioned them in and the frequency with which they appear on the home page.

Some may find it strange that I have neglected to include the other work I do on the home page, work I do plenty of including corporate headshots (which I really enjoying doing) music photography (I love) and event and website work which is work I respect. 

Not having these areas represented on the home page (even though they are represented in my portfolio) has been a difficult decision for me because I still need this work and am good at it.

What I had to put first was my brand and what I want to be doing with my photography in the next few years and after I asked myself that question there was absolutely no doubt in my head about the answer. I want to be an exceptional family photographer with a specialism in lifestyle baby and children photography. I want my reputation to come before me and I want my style of work to be recognisable. We can all dream ;)

So, in a bid to make this happen I needed to represent only on the home page the work I want to be synonymous with and I hope very much I've done the right thing. Only the next few months will tell.

The site, although lunched is in need a little preening in the removal of some of the photos from the slideshows - I am told 10-15 is a healthy and professional amount of images per slide show but achieving this is incredibly hard as I have very little objectivity left with regard to what needs to go. 

Anyway, I open up my new website homepage content dilemma to you all and anyone who might have a considered opinion on it. 

Either way I'd love any feedback on the site.

www.sammisparke.com

Signing off for now, Sammi