Uniquely You Photography: Blog | Lincoln Nebraska Newborn Baby Child Family Photographer

A few more questions for today!

Q: My question is on lighting. The family with the title “picture perfect”. I love how golden the picture is. Is there a certain time of day to achieve this?  We try right before sunset… Also, are you using a light source? Or are you using a flash, light box, reflector… anything like that? We have a similar place that we shoot like this… so that is why I am asking.

A: I try to schedule all of my sessions during optimal lighting hours.  I love to shoot between 8:30am and 10am and then about 2 hours before sundown…which during the summer season is 5-7:30.  This might vary depending on your location, but I love the directional light (which you see in a lot of my images) you get when the sun isn’t high in the sky.  I haven’t ventured into using additional light sources on location..so no strobes outdoors, and definitely NO ON CAMERA FLASH.  I’m surprised at how many “professionals” use on camera flash…and do so ineffectively.  You can use a reflector at almost any time to achieve a WAY better look than on camera flash.  (Don’t mind me, I’m bias (obviously) when it comes to flash. )  I actually don’t use reflectors with children…just too hard with the fast pace of the session…with older teens I use them sometimes and seniors most always.

Q: my question is: i would like to do natural lighting photos. how do you go about shooting with natural light in clients homes? i usually use the quantum flash or in studio lights. i was also wondering where you find your wording for your new college collection. thanks.

A:  The majority of my sessions are on-location (outdoors) natural light, when I do go to clients’ homes it’s normally for newborns or maternity sessions.  I only use one light w/ a 50×50 softbox.  If I do use the natural light, I try to look for rooms with the most light, and keep the subject closest to the light source.  Don’t be afraid to move furniture if need be.  I never use a flash..don’t even own one. As for the Defined Templates, the definitions were a mixture of the actual definitions from the dictionary paired with random thoughts from my head…so I didn’t get them anywhere in particular.

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Just a reminder…don’t forget about our Fresh Faces Model Contest! Only 24 more days to enter!!

2nd Annual FRESH FACES Model CallIt’s that time again…for the Fresh Faces Model Call!  Last year was the first year for the model call and it was a huge success!  We had over 50 images submitted and 3 lucky winners!  It was a total blast, and because of that, we decided to do it again.

The Details: I am looking for fresh faces to photograph.  Send in an image (non-professional, preferrably close-up) of your child (ages 6mo-13yr) for a chance to win a complimentary photo session and free 11×14 image of your choice from the session.  There is only one catch…the session is totally conceptualized by ME!  That means I pick the location, I style the session, I will even BUY all the clothing…all you have to do is show up.  How cool is that?

Send your images via email to me at info@uniquelyyouphoto.com. Please include your child’s name, age, and contact information in the event you are chosen as the winner.  DEADLINE FOR ENTRY IS JANUARY 31ST!  No late entries will be accepted. Images will be narrowed to the top 10 by a group of my collegues in early February, and the top 10 will be posted on the blog to be voted on by the general public…that means YOU!  This year we will have just TWO winners, one boy and one girl.<br>

This contest is open to anyone, whether you’re a previous client or not!  

I’m holding a question and answer session on the blog.  If you have a question for me, feel free to send it in.  I’ll be choosing a few questions to answer over the next few weeks as I have some down time.
Here’s the first few: 

Q: Hey, quick question….I know you “used” to use one light for newborns – are you still???  I’m thinking of purchasing one becasue sometimes the houses are just sooooo dark that a light would be useful.  I will get an Alien Bee I’m pretty sure (it seems that’s what everyone gets) – but as far as your stuff – is that what you have?  Do you put a softbox over it?  I noticed AB has some foldable ones – are those any good???  Also, when you do use your light – do you also use a reflector??? Thx!

A: Yes…still using the one light, no reflector!  I have an AB800 and AB400.  I mainly use my AB800 with the AB24×36 AB softbox, however, I just ordered the 50×50 Westcott so I can’t wait to use that.  I’ve never tried the foldable AB boxes, but I have heard good things about them.  I normally position my light camera right at about a 45 degree angle with the light and box aimed down towards the baby.  I try to envision how the light would come streaming in a window and try to duplicate that with my studio lighting.

Q:  Have a quick question(s) that I hope you will help me with..I’m stugging to get images as crisp/clear as yours. Do you have any suggestions that you would like to share on how to get such crisp images?  Is it high ISO with high shutter speed?  Is it super prime glass?  I look at your images and wonder how you get them so crisp.  If you wouldn’t mind sharing some tips that would be great.

A:  I personally think it has a lot to do with the lens (glass) and settings you are shooting with.  I personally love the primes lenses, I own the 50 mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8, along with other zoom lenses.  I use my 50mm almost 85% of the time, nearly 100% of the time outdoors with the exception of seniors and even newborns in studio.  I’ve found with my particular 50mm lens, the “sweet spot” is around 3.2 so I tend to stick right there most of my sessions.  When shooting children, I try not to let my shutter speed dip below 1/125 to avoid camera shake which can also lead to soft images.  Since I am mainly outdoors, I rarely shoot at anything over 400ISO.

Q: What camera and lenses do you use?

A: I touched on this a bit above….I have the Canon 40D (started with the 20D, then 30D, and now 40D )  The lenses I have are all Canon…50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.8, 17-40 f4L, 100mm f2.8 (macro), and 17-85mm f4/5.6.  I’m not really a lens flousy , I used to have more but many of them were only collected dust so I got rid of them!

…and the last one for today….

Q: The color in your images is STUNNING!  Do you use an action or just self editing? Any tips?

A: Getting a good exposure is really important in having gorgeous color.  I do a slight curves and levels adjustment in Photoshop and have made an action to use as a starting point, then do additional tweaking as needed.  I process each one of my images individually…there is no one size fits all for me!  

Stop back tomorrow for more Q & A!  Send your questions to info@uniquelyyouphoto.com. 

See the previous post for our FRESH FACES contest, we’ve gotten some great entries already!!!