8 Tips for Backlighting

1. Spot Meter.
It is necessary in order to illuminate your subject. If you meter in another mode your subject will be too dark.

2. Overexpose.
Don’t trust your meter when shooting into light. You will need to overexpose the meter to get proper exposure (unless you are going for a dark, dramatic, silhouette type feel). Keep an eye on your highlights & the details in your image…you don’t want to over do it because lost detail is hard to get back during processing.

3. Lens hood.
Use it! It will help your camera focus when shooting into the light. If you don’t have one, you can cup your hand around your lens to shield out some of the light & grab focus easier.

4. Study.
Watch the light around you all day everyday. Think about how it falls when indoor & where/what times the light would be nice for portraits. Obviously if you want to achieve backlit images outdoor you will need to stick as close to sunrise/sunset as possible for those golden tones & soft light.

5. Move around.
If you don’t like the look you’re achieving simply move around your subject to change the way the light affects your image: to produce haze or rather to clean up your image. Similarly you can move your subject to achieve the same results. Even just standing up or crouching down in the same spot will give you different results. Play around & see what you like best.

6. White balance.
Try to get it right in camera! I use Kelvin outdoor & usually indoor as well (sometimes I use my expodisc indoor). Generally I begin around 5580 K while shooting an hour or two before sunset. This is just a starting point, then I will assess & tweak if needed. As the sun gets lower & warmer I adjust my kelvin temperature accordingly.

7. Back button focus.
Maybe it’s just me but I think using BBF helps lock in sharper focus. I toggle then use BBF for extra security then press the shutter.

8. Wear white (if possible).
Carrying a reflector is kind of a pain. Editing color casts is also kind of a pain! Take the easy way & reflect some light back on to your subject by wearing white.

Read more about backlighting

- Secret to Backlighting: Video Q & A
- 6 Steps to Create a Haze Effect in Photos

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Kelly Garvey - Contributor

photographer at kelly garvey photography

Hi! I'm a natural light photographer from Houston, TX in love with capturing my family's everyday moments & my client's too...thank you for being here at Click It Up A Notch with us! Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter My Camera Bag: D3S | D700 | 50mm 1.4G | 85mm 1.4G | 24-70mm 2.8 | 70-200mm 2.8 | 105mm 2.8 | 16mm 2.8 | Tamron 90mm 2.8

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The Lensbaby Composer Pro with Sweet 35mm Optic is such a fun lens. I have had a blast learning how to use it and figuring out different ways to photograph our lives with it. Below are a few lessons I’ve learned from using my Lensbaby.

1. Set your aperture to f/4 or f/5.6.
Unlike most lenses we are used to these days, you set your aperture on the lens. In fact, your camera will say the aperture is f/0. Don’t let that confuse you. Keep your aperture around f/4 or f/5.6 when starting out because you want to have more of your image in focus to help you nail the focus.

2. Manual focus can be fun.
This lens requires you to use manual focus. Please don’t let this scare you from buying a lens that requires manual focus. It has actually proved to be a fun and challenging exercise. I like being challenged when it comes to photography and this lens does that.

3. Start with it centered.
You can turn this lens to create different effects. Until you become super comfortable with the lens I recommend keeping it centered so you get used to the manual focus.

4. Challenges your creativity.
If you are stuck in a rut, I have always suggested shooting with a different lens. This one will definitely spark your creativity and give your images a new look and feel. By challenging yourself with a lens that isn’t like your everyday lens you may see things quite differently.

5. Make the ordinary, extraordinary.
You can turn an everyday snap shot into a fun and unique image with a Lensbaby. For example, the image below I took with my everyday lens and then put on my Lensbaby. The Lensbaby give it a fun and completely different feel than the other lens. What a fun way to capture a baseball field!

6. Slow down and really think.
This is a lens that really helps you to slow down. Focus and imagine on what you are trying to create. We get so busy snapping away and capturing our everyday that we often forget to slow down and examine our frame. It is refreshing to think through your shots by slowing down.

*I received my Lensbaby in exchange for this post.

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Courtney Slazinik

I am a SAHM of three little girls. Married to a fabulous man in the Air Force, we know home is where the Air Force sends us. I started this blog as a place to share my love of photography and teaching. Please let me know if you have any questions along your journey! Website | My Camera Bag

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Dear Sweet Girls,

Please, oh please, use your manners. ALWAYS.

If you receive a gift or compliment, say “thank you”.

When someone says “thank you” to you, say “you are welcome”. Don’t say “no worries”, that drives Honey crazy.

Look people in the eye when you speak to them.

Shake someone’s hand when meeting for the first time. Look them in the eye, give a firm hand shake, and say “Hi, I’m ____. Nice to meet you, ________”. Be sure to say their name back. It helps you remember their name and people like to hear their own name.

Say “hello”. You may notice when we go on a walk, I say “hello” to everyone we pass. That’s because I’m from the South Be friendly.

“Yes, ma’am” or “Yes, sir” is the correct response to an adult. Not “yah”, “ok”, “alright”, and NEVER “whatever”. Ignore what Papa says I may have said as a teenager.

Speaking of being a teenager, resist the urge to say “I know”, “Sooooo”, and rolling your eyes. I may have done it but that doesn’t mean it’s okay.

Smile…a lot. It will not only make those around you happy but you can’t help but be happy when you smile.

Call adults by Mr. or Mrs. and their last name. Close family friends you can call Ms. and their first name like “Ms. Trisha”, but don’t call adults by their first name.

Write thank you cards. A hand written note to let someone know you appreciate the gift or act of kindness goes a long way in our digital age.

Say “excuse me” if you bump into someone, knock something over, or wish to say something when someone is talking. Never interrupt.

Hold the door open. Not only for our family walking through but for anyone coming in and out. Be sure to say “hello”.

Please use these manners even when Daddy and I aren’t around. Remember, you are representing our family.

I love and adore you,
Mama

Be sure to follow through our small circle to read more letters from mother’s to their children. Check out Laurie Flickinger’s letter next.

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Courtney Slazinik

I am a SAHM of three little girls. Married to a fabulous man in the Air Force, we know home is where the Air Force sends us. I started this blog as a place to share my love of photography and teaching. Please let me know if you have any questions along your journey! Website | My Camera Bag

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Thanks to Laura at Super Sweet Life for submitting the following image.
Settings: SS 1/125, f/2.5, ISO 100

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Courtney Slazinik

I am a SAHM of three little girls. Married to a fabulous man in the Air Force, we know home is where the Air Force sends us. I started this blog as a place to share my love of photography and teaching. Please let me know if you have any questions along your journey! Website | My Camera Bag

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I realize not everyone who reads my site is a mother but I know a lot of you are. I hope you are spoiled today and feel as appreciated as you should be.

You have an important job.

You have a thankless job.

You have a job where the children you are raising won’t appreciate all your hard work as much as they do once they have their own children. Being a parent is tough work but it is a job that God has entrusted you with.

You get to raise these amazing, spunky, stubborn, kind, respective, independent little people. They adore you and think you are the BEST.

Your children love you “too” much as my little one tells me. They love you to the moon and back but often times don’t have the words to tell you that.

Staying home with my girls has been the most rewarding and challenging job. It’s hard to not have a job where you get recognition for your work. It’s hard to have a job that you won’t know if you are doing a good job until they are 18 and moved out. But you know what, you ARE doing a good job.

I want you to give yourself a gift for Mother’s day.

Get in the photo with your kids. Your kids don’t care how you look. You don’t even need to set up your tripod. Use what you have.

Just GET IN THE PHOTO!

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Courtney Slazinik

I am a SAHM of three little girls. Married to a fabulous man in the Air Force, we know home is where the Air Force sends us. I started this blog as a place to share my love of photography and teaching. Please let me know if you have any questions along your journey! Website | My Camera Bag

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Don’t forget to follow through our circle of photographers to see some amazing Lensbaby Love images. Check out Tracy Bradbury who rocks her Lensbaby!

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Courtney Slazinik

I am a SAHM of three little girls. Married to a fabulous man in the Air Force, we know home is where the Air Force sends us. I started this blog as a place to share my love of photography and teaching. Please let me know if you have any questions along your journey! Website | My Camera Bag

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Thanks to Jessica at Jessica Faith Photography for submitting the following image.
Settings: ISO 400, f/2.2, SS 1/2000

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Courtney Slazinik

I am a SAHM of three little girls. Married to a fabulous man in the Air Force, we know home is where the Air Force sends us. I started this blog as a place to share my love of photography and teaching. Please let me know if you have any questions along your journey! Website | My Camera Bag

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‘Tis the season for senior portraits! Last week I had a wonderful opportunity to do a photo shoot with two beautiful high school senior twins.  I decided before the shoot that I would use some of the images for this post and share senior portraits tips. These are things that I like to keep in mind as the photographer during a senior session.

Senior Portraits Tips

1. Look for structural elements (or other leading lines in nature if you aren’t near any architecture) to draw the viewer’s eye to the subject.
Since the session is all about them, you want everything in the image to point towards them. Find beams, staircases, walkways, paths, the lines of a building, etc. to use as leading lines or to frame your subject.

2. Choose an appropriate length lens (50mm or above) to avoid distortion when shooting close ups.
You don’t want heads or hips to look larger than they are in real life! Your senior girls will thank you later! Many argue that the best portrait length is 85mm or above. I shot almost this entire session with my 85 mm lens.  The longer the length lens, the more compressed your background will look, which creates that soft, creamy look behind your subject that we all love!

During this session I briefly switched  to my 24-70mm lens because I was tight on space in a particular area. I shot one image at 24mm and realized after looking at my screen on my camera that her head looked large in comparison to the rest of her body.  It was because I was standing too close to her with a wide-angle lens! I quickly zoomed out to about 60mm, took a step in to frame her close up, and tried for a better shot. I recommend doing a quick test shot every time you switch lenses to double check for distortion. Don’t worry about making your client wait while you adjust. It’s more important to get the shot right in-camera so there are no regrets later!

3. Work with the weather/sun you are given the day of your shoot, not against it.
I had a fabulous location pegged out for our urban shoot where there were colored doors, old staircases, and vintage looking brick walls.  I was so excited to shoot there! When I drove past the location earlier in the week it was overcast skies, so I didn’t think about the direction of the sun. Duh! When we arrived, however, there was direct, glaring sunlight shining on all those fun colored doors, and speckled light from the trees nearby.

I decided I would quickly become frustrated if I tried dodging all the crazy shadows on their faces and hot spots on their clothing. So we walked around to the shaded side of the building and found new areas where there was even lighting and filtered back lit opportunities. Be ready to change your plan, look for something that will work better for the lighting situation you are given. Bad light can easily ruin a good location!

We found a really great cream brick wall that was in complete shade, but had the added bonus of a metal building right next to it that was reflecting sunlight back onto the wall.  It was far enough away that it provided a soft, subtle reflection that added nice catchlights in their eyes and highlights to their faces/hair.

We were also dealing with wind during our shoot. Luckily it was a gusty wind, so we had periods of calm mixed with random gusts that came out of nowhere. We used the wind to our advantage by trying for those hair-flying-in-the-wind type dramatic looks. To do this, pose your subject toward the direction of the wind and tell them to wait for a minute until you get a gust. Then watch through your eyepiece and be ready to click the shutter just as the wind blows.

4. Choose poses that flatter your subject, look natural, and emphasize their personality. The goal is to capture who they are at this stage in their life. I generally don’t like portraits that look stiff and posed. These types of images are lacking a sense of movement and reality.

There are things you can do to make poses look natural. Here are some suggestions. Disclaimer: it is impossible to remember ALL these tips during a shoot! My suggestion is to focus on a couple at a time). You will notice I did not follow some of these rules in the pics I used for this post…ha ha, I did my best!

• Avoid shooting straight on, shoulder’s square to the camera, or arms directly by their side. Rather, create a soft bend in the arm, turn hips slightly for a more natural look. Also be aware of hunched shoulders.
• For girls, be aware of their hips and how to best flatter them. Shifting weight to the back leg slims the hip closest to the camera.
• More often than not, legs apart look better than legs together (defines a girl’s shape).
• For boys, aim for masculine posing. Hands on hips with hips cocked is NOT ideal for boys! Folded arms or clasped hands make for a more masculine look.
• Chin down to open up the eyes. Do an occasional shot from above if you have double chin problems.
• A big cheesy grin can sometimes look superficial. Try for a soft smile, or no smile for a more dramatic look. If you have made a connection with your seniors you’ll be more successful at getting natural expressions. Crack jokes, be playful, get them to loosen up and have fun!
• Use hands to frame the face or to give more visual appeal. Strive for graceful and elegant looking hands for girls and strong/masculine hands for boys. Watch for broken wrists and clenched fingers (relax the bends).
• There’s a delicate balance between making senior girls look sweet vs. sexy. Their mothers will thank you later if you can aim for the sweet!

5. Don’t forget to be creative!
Bring out that fisheye lens, Lensbaby lens, or do a shot that your senior mentions from Pinterest.  I will sometimes incorporate a pose I’ve seen somewhere else, but put my own twist on it to make it my own. Seniors love these creative shots because they make their session unique and tells a story about their personality. I usually do the more creative and fun posing at the end when they are tired of smiling and posing. I want to end on a fun note so they remember the shoot as a positive experience!

These are just a few tips that came to mind. I’d love to hear any other favorites you may have too! The more you shoot, the more you will learn what to do/not to do the next time. Seniors are so much fun to work with and will generally do whatever you tell them to! Take advantage of this by doing your homework before the shoot, planning your posing, lighting and location so you are ready to rock it and have fun!

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Jen Bacher-Contributor

I am a photographer from Salt Lake City, UT. I enjoy shooting food, travel, macro, and lifestyle portraits. I have been in and out of the photography business since 2005, juggling the demands of motherhood (four kiddos) with my love of photography. I feel it is a true gift to be able to express who I am and my everyday through my lens. I find much joy in learning and improving, and in helping others grow. I also love a good sweaty workout, shopping alone, house boating on Lake Powell, sauteed mushrooms, salty & sweet together, and un-interrupted afternoon naps! Looking forward to sharing my knowledge and learning with all of you this year! Website/Blog | Facebook My Camera bag: Nikon D700 | Nikon 85mm f/1.4G | Nikon 24-70 f/2.8G | Nikon 35mm f/2D | Lensbaby Composer Pro

Dear Courtney,

You recently got your first DSLR and convinced Megan to come over and start teaching you manual mode. Yes, it is super confusing but you will get there.

Manual mode seems like a daunting and confusing new language that you do not understand.

Take your time.

You will get there.

You will be amazed that you will eventually be able to change your shutter speed, ISO, and aperture without even thinking about it. Your fingers will do the work for you.

Despite your first several “photo shoots”. You don’t need to have your ISO at 6400 in a full lit room. Set your aperture first, not ISO.

You know that yellowish look your photos have when shooting inside that drives you batty and you don’t know how to fix it. That is called white balance. Just saved you hours of googling. You’re welcome.

There are going to be days where you are going to yell and get beyond frustrated with the girls when trying to take their photo.

They are trying to listen.

They are trying to understand what you are saying, but if you give a 3-year old an umbrella and expect her to stand still for a silhouette shot…you are asking too much.

When you find yourself losing it with the kids over photography, take a deep breath, walk away, and think why are you doing this. You are doing it to capture their childhood.

Each and every shot does not have to be perfect.

Let it go. Let it go when the kids don’t want to look at the camera, tilt their head just so, look out the window, look at you, look at their sibling, look down.

If you stay patient and keep the experience fun than the kids won’t get burnt out and run away from the camera.

When taking your family photos yourself, aim low. Seriously, you will enjoy yourself more if you only hope to get one good photo.

You know that lens that came with your camera? Get rid of it!

Buy the 50mm 1.8 Megan suggests. Yes, $100 seems like a lot of money for a lens but I promise that will seem like a drop in the bucket later down the road when you buy more lenses.

The 50mm 1.8 will be your trusty lens for over a year before you can purchase another one.

Those blurry backgrounds you love? Yeah, you can get those with your 50mm 1.8 by shooting wide open. Don’t go crazy shooting wide open because you will miss the focus more times than I would like to admit.

You have a tendency of finding a hobby and obsessing about it for 6 months before moving onto another one. Not photography. You have finally found your true passion (besides teaching).

Photography is THE hobby you have been searching for.

Read as much as you can about photography. Find blogs, forums, and books. Soak it all up. BUT get out and practice it.

Spending all that time reading is important but if you don’t implement you new skills than they will not become second nature.

That Project 365 you keep hearing about. Do it! Single best thing you did for your photography.

Get in front of the camera. You will eventually figure out how to get yourself in focus in those shots.

Edit daily.

Take the workshops offered at Clickin’ Moms. Participate in them fully. Critique your classmates images and really study their work.

Continue to practice what you learned once the class is over.

In fact, when you are in a rut and you will be in a lot of them, take out your workshop material and repeat a workshop on your own.

The hardest times in your photography journey are normally right after these workshops. You will have learned so many new things but struggle to put them into practice.

Don’t get discouraged.

This typically happens right before you have a growth in your photography.

You will have ups and downs. You will have months where you feel like your photos aren’t good enough. Stop looking at other photographers’ work.

Don’t compare yourself.

Your journey is your journey.

There will be photographers who start after you and pass you in skill. That is ok. Don’t let it get you down.

The only photographer you should compare yourself to is yourself.

And let me tell you, you will come a LONG way from the photos you took in your front yard of the kids.

Keep clicking.

Love,
Yourself in 3.5 years

What would you tell yourself?

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Courtney Slazinik

I am a SAHM of three little girls. Married to a fabulous man in the Air Force, we know home is where the Air Force sends us. I started this blog as a place to share my love of photography and teaching. Please let me know if you have any questions along your journey! Website | My Camera Bag

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Creating good habits especially photography habits help to keep your life less stressful. My friends joke around because I’m constantly trying to create self improvement habits for myself. Why not transfer that into photography.

For the month of May we are going to tackle daily editing. Editing seems to be the beast I can’t tame. When I did my Project 365 in 2010, I was so good about uploading and editing daily. It made life easy and I never felt guilty about images sitting on my computer unedited. Fast forward to 2013, and I have more than I want to admit unedited images on my computer. I am bound and determined to get caught up and get back into the habit of editing daily.

I read something a while ago that if you do something straight for 3 weeks it becomes a habit. Let’s tackle this photography habit together!

May Photography Habit: Daily Editing

1. Set a timer for 15 minutes.
Sometimes the thought of editing the 200 pictures you took today is so overwhelming that it is easier to do nothing. I speak from experience. There is something about setting a timer and saying, I will do what I can in this 15 minutes and after the 15 minutes I give myself the choice to stop or continue. It sounds silly but you would be amazed at the things you can get done in 15 minutes (I use this trick in the evening after I put the kids to bed to clean. Let me tell you, I do not like picking up or cleaning after the kids are in bed because I’m beat but it works.)

2. Start with today.
I don’t care if you are two years behind on editing like some people (I am raising my hand). Edit your images from today. Let’s get started on the right foot.

3. Work backwards.
If you still have a few minutes left then work backwards. Seriously, don’t try to edit 2012 (that may be too overwhelming) when yesterdays pictures aren’t edited.

4. Export your images.
Now that your images are edited you want to export them so they are ready for print and the web. Here is a post I wrote about exporting from Lightroom. By exporting your images once your done editing you are saving yourself time when you are ready to print and share them on the web.

Does the thought of editing seem even more intimidating because you aren’t comfortable editing?

Check out these posts on photo editing

- Organizing your photos
- Before and after: Underexposure video
- Lightroom Black and white conversion video
- Sync button in Lightroom
- RAW editing in ACR & Lightroom using the tone curve
- How to create you own preset in Lightroom

Will you join us this month with editing each day? Leave a comment below if you are going to try this new habit and tackle your editing.

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Courtney Slazinik

I am a SAHM of three little girls. Married to a fabulous man in the Air Force, we know home is where the Air Force sends us. I started this blog as a place to share my love of photography and teaching. Please let me know if you have any questions along your journey! Website | My Camera Bag

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