IMAGES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL

“Darling, A beautiful thing is never perfect.”

Creative Photography Lighting And other Techniques I use to add Emotion to my Images

For me the photos that speak to me and make me feel something in my soul never seem to be the images that strive to be perfect in every technical aspect. There is something in them beyond technicality that stirs my soul. Sometimes it’s a blurry photo that can represent the fleeting nature of time. Sometimes it can be a soft haze that brings an ethereal quality freezing the moment in time and space. Sometimes darkness dominates the frame creating a sense of mystery leaving me wanting more. Other times it’s a strong connection with the subject in the frame. There are times that I can look at an old photo and see the subjects’ eyes in the frame and I sense a world of unspoken stories and shared humanity.  

I wanted to share some of the tools that I use to add feeling into a frame. There are so many different ways you can do this, but here are some of my favorites!

Motion Blur Technique

The first one would be motion blur. Some of my favorite images are blurry in some way. Whether it’s the use of panning, shaking the camera, or even moving with the subject with a slow shutter speed on, they can all add so much emotion and depth to a photo!

I am going to explain some of the techniques and how you can try them out yourself! The first one is panning. Begin by setting your shutter speed to 1/60 of a second and adjust the other elements of the exposure triangle as needed. You will likely need to decrease your ISO and potentially increase your F stop unless it’s blue hour or a low light situation. In this technique, you will stay stationary while your subject runs past the camera. As they run past, smoothly move the camera along with them. Ensure you are in high continuous mode to capture that one perfect image that encapsulates the desired emotion!

Remember to play around with the shutter speed and see what works best for you! If the subject is moving slower, then try slowing your shutter speed to see what happens! If they are moving really fast, try going up!  

Here is an example of a Panning Technique that I used in a session:  

Plastic Bag Technique

Another tool I frequently rely on is a plastic bag. It creates such a dreamy feeling to your images! This tool is so simple to use! I simply cut a hole in the bottom of the sandwich bag and slide my lens through it. As I start shooting, I can easily mold the bag and position it where I want! The result is a beautiful hazy effect that adds an ethereal touch to your images!

Here is an example of a plastic bag used over my lens:

Here is another example where I used a plastic bag but in this images I covered the entire lens with the bag:

Golden Hour Light Technique

I think the most effective way to add emotion to an image would be through the use of light. In my opinion, understanding the basics of lighting is key to understanding photography. As they say, photography is essentially painting with light. My favorite time to shoot would be golden hour. Golden hour occurs shortly before sunset or just after sunrise, when the sun is at a lower angle in the sky, creating a beautiful golden glow. The reason the light is golden at this time is due to the atmosphere filtering out blue tones when the sun is closer to the horizon, creating a beautiful golden glow making it an ideal time to capture gorgeous photos! Here is an example of golden hour light:

Another aspect of golden hour that I love is that it provides various opportunities to use light in different ways! Since the sun is not straight over head like during the day you can experiment with backlight, sidelight, front light, pockets of lights, as well as explore blue hour!

Blue hour is when the sun drops below the horizon, during this time the remaining sunlight takes on mostly a blue shade which I will talk about more later!

Backlighting Technique

What I’ll do now is show you examples of each type of light! Let’s start with backlight which I use often during sunset shoots.

Backlighting casts a soft haze to your image which creates a dreamy atmosphere!  The thing that can sometimes be tricky with backlighting especially when the sun is still relatively high like at a beginning of a session is the sun overpowering your image. You will have to make sure to control the amount of light you are letting into your lens by maneuvering your camera and positioning it to where you do not allow the light to overpower your image.

One way you can do this positioning your clients lower and pointing the camera at an angle down towards your subjects, which will control the amount of light entering your lens. Here is an example of backlighting using this trick of controlling the light:

Side Light Technique

The next light kind of lighting I enjoy to experiment with is side light! Side light is beautiful and can create so much depth in an image.

Side light can be used with both hard light and soft light. Hard light will give your images a ton of contrast which I really love especially if I convert the image into black and white. While soft light offers more subtle but equally as beautiful effect!

I like to have my couples face the light source and I shoot with the sun being to the side of my camera. Here is an example of side light with hard lighting.

And here is an example of side light using soft lighting:

Pockets of Light Technique

The next kind of lighting I’d like to discuss is using pockets of light! Pockets of light are fascinating as they beautifully illuminate your subject while everything else falls into shadows!

Pockets of lights can be found in a lot of different places like forests, narrow city streets, or even your home during sunrise and sunset! There is a certain sense of magic associated with pockets of light!

All you need to do is position your subject in the light. By exposing the shot for your subject within the pocket of light, you will see how this really illuminates your subject from its surrounding! See an example of a pocket of light in a river covered by Cypress Tress:

Blue Hour & Front Lighting Technique

So, the last thing I will talk about is Blue Hour and Front lighting! I am putting these two things together because using front light in blue hour produces stunning results!

Blue hour refers to the period right after the sun dips below the horizon, in this light turn your subject around to face the light and watch how beautifully their skin illuminates! This is another kind of lighting that illuminates your subject and everything around falls into shadow.

Play with front and side light in blue hour! Right after the sunsets you have about 20 minutes to play in this beautiful light! Here is an example of using front light during blue hour:

Here is an example of using side light during blue hour:

So that’s it! These are some of the techniques I frequently employ to infuse emotion and mood into my images. Play around with some of these techniques and see what you come up with! Remember to embrace the process, have fun, and grant yourself the freedom to make mistakes. there is an abundance of beauty to be found in the journey itself and even in the imperfections! So go out there, explore, and uncover the remarkable possibilities that await you!

ABOUT STEPH & LADY PHOTOGRAPHY

I am a professional photographer based in San Antonio, TX, serving couples, engagement, family, maternity, personal branding, and elopement photography clients in San Antonio, Texas, and the surrounding communities of New Braunfels, Schertz, and Cibolo, and all of Central and West Texas.