Mastering (trying to) light

Mastering light is vital to any photographer and the only way to do it it's by experimentation (specially if you are self thaught like me). Today I grab a bust - it was the one thing I had that resembled more like a person - and decided to play around with natural and artificial light.

1 Image - Natural light coming from a window on the left side.
2 Image - Natural light coming from a window on the left and some aluminium foil on the right side to eliminate the shadow.

And because I don't believe in doing everything the traditional way, I tried some cardboard as a reflector on the 3 image. If you look closely the difference is very minimal but sometimes that's all you need.

3 Image - Cardboard as a reflector on the right side.
4 Image - Natral light on the left with no reflector on the right.

Then, I tried a black background to give a more dramatic effect to the images. Although, it wasn't enough, so I place a lampshade without the "abajur", on the right side (5 image), and on the left side (6 image).

The light is a bit harsh but the idea is there.

 Last but not least, I put the lampshade behind the subject in order to make it  stand out against the background.

These are just some basic ideas to lit your subjects in different ways in order to achieve different styles. The aluminium foil and the cardboard are just "on budjet" tips, if you are a beginner.

I hope this post help you  , let me know if it did on the comments below . Thank you for visiting !

Enjoy !

A blog - an inspirational place !

A blog should be a place where we write stories, share knowledge with others and provide inspiration for others to follow their dreams - I realise that my blog is so much about my work and not enough about inspiration for all the people that visit this humble space ! 

My blog doesn't get that many visits daily but nevertheless I would like to say thank you to all of you that do visit ! Thank you ! Just yesterday I posted a picture on my facebook page to say thank you for my 436 likes/fans (the one below).

I know It may not seem like an achievement but when I started I kept my photography work private in  my own personal facebook account, just for family and friends to see. When I finally decided to share it with everyone I was so afraid that nobody would be interested in my pictures and thought  my work was horrible, that 436 likes  it is somehow surreal . 

The people who follow your work deserve your utter most respect because they are the ones who give you strenght and confidence to continue on your journey. 

Keep photographing, be inspired and most importantly - believe !

Website - New Layout !

It's time to change my website layout to something more professional and simple. It's not exactly as I want it yet but it's a start !  I'll be doing some changes in here as well .

Meanwhile check out the new layout and tell me what you think ! 

Sheer Blue - Part II

Sheer Blue - Part I

A couple of weeks ago I did a photoshoot with a model that I had photographed her for the first time, last year and I had everything planned in my head, I did a moodboard, organized the clothes and sew a skirt out of a curtain (budjet issues) and I thought that everything was going to be amazing and all the pohotos were turned out the way I imagined them. Well...that did not happen at all, on the day and specially on our chosen location, it was super windy and the light was harsh, my curtain-skirt was incredibly sheer and lightweight.  

I arrived home feeling a bit dissapointed with the results, but after some hours of retouching I started to look at these images with different eyes, and I actually think these are a bit different and more colourful in comparison to my most recent work - which is a plus. 

I am self-taught and these "set backs" are good learning curves and a reminder that no matter how much time you spend planning and daydreaming about the final images everything can change on the day of the actual shoot - you just need to accept it and make the most out of it! 

Hope you like them ! 

Thanks for reading and visiting <3

Photography and retouching: Mariana Madeira

Model: Cassandra C.

2013

Sheer blue

Coming soon !