Golden Hour Photography

There's a reason they call the hours near dawn and dusk the "Golden Hours" - the natural light during these times just makes shooting so pleasurable. The light is soft, rich and it allows for longer exposures, which I really enjoy. While landscape shots look amazing in this light, I can't wait to shoot some portraits in it. I've offered to shoot folks for free at sunrise on the beach, but apparently none of my friends are early risers (I've become one because of our kid).

I took the shot below at Cross Farm Park in Lincroft at around 8PM. I took a number of shots that evening, but I feel this one is the best. As I sat in the tall grass of the park with my camera on a tripod, I kept thinking of the famous tabloid photographer, Weegee, whose motto was, "F8 and be there!" This was his answer when questioned how he was able to capture so many great shots. While I understand the utility of using a safe aperture setting like F8, it's the "be there" part that really resonates with me. If you want a good shot, you need to get out there and endure some discomfort sometimes, like being eaten alive by mosquitoes in this case. I also kept thinking about photojournalists in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and the precarious situations they navigate to "get the shot." Makes mosquito bites seem pretty trivial, really.

CAMERA: Nikon D80

LENS: AF-S DX Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

APERTURE: 13
SHUTTER: 3 seconds
LIGHTING: Natural with fill flash (TTL)
ISO: 100
RETOUCHING: Pushed the contrast a little in the RAW file.
SELF-CRITIQUE: I don't have much to say about this shot. I really love the colors and the way the flash made the street sign pop against the sky.

Available Light

While I have always taken pictures for as long as I can remember, this summer I feel like my Nikon has been virtually glued to my face. I actually feel guilty if I have missed a day of shooting. Every time I pick up the camera, I am learning more about the craft and about myself as a shooter. While I do enjoy some aspects of shooting with artificial light (Strobes and/or hot lights), I do think some of my strongest shots to date have been made possible by good, natural light, in situations where the subjects aren't consciously posing. Case in point, the shot below was taken around 6PM at the Triumph Brewery in New Hope, PA. The light was hitting a huge, frosted window pane that acted like a giant soft box. I love the way it gently outlines my son's features.

CAMERA: Nikon D80

LENS: AF-S DX Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

APERTURE: 2.8
SHUTTER: 1/125
LIGHTING: Natural
ISO: 200
RETOUCHING: Pushed the contrast a little in the RAW file.
SELF-CRITIQUE: I'm not really sure how to critique this shot. I'm not saying it's perfect, but I like it from both an emotional and a technical standpoint.

The pic below is of my wife and son facing that same big, frosted window. I like how the incandescant lights in the background almost suggest stars and the quality of natural light warms up an already sweet, personal moment.

CAMERA: Nikon D80

LENS: AF-S DX Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

APERTURE: 2.8
SHUTTER: 1/125
LIGHTING: Natural
ISO: 200
RETOUCHING: Pushed the contrast a little in the RAW file, burned in the t-shirt
SELF-CRITIQUE: Her T-shirt was a little overexposed, so I burned it in a bit in Photoshop. It could probably stand a little more, actually. Color balance could stand a slight correction, perhaps pushing the vibrance/saturation a little.

One more utilizing that amazing window. I really love how it exaggerates the depth of the room:

CAMERA: Nikon D80

LENS: AF-S DX Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

APERTURE: 2.8
SHUTTER: 1/180
LIGHTING: Natural
ISO: 200
RETOUCHING: Pushed the contrast/brightness a little in the RAW file.
SELF-CRITIQUE: I love it from a technical angle, but emotionally, it's a little flat.

The shot below presented some problems as we were on moving train, which bumped and swayed quite a bit (it was a hot train, too, as evidenced by my sweating subject). I didn't want to use the flash, so I had to keep the shutter open a bit longer, risking tack sharp focus.

CAMERA: Nikon D80

LENS: AF-S DX Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

APERTURE: 2.0
SHUTTER: 1/125
LIGHTING: Natural
ISO: 200
RETOUCHING: Pushed the contrast/brightness a little in the RAW file. Sharpened the image in Photoshop.
SELF-CRITIQUE: I love it for its emotional content and I think I did a decent job technically considering the conditions, but I could have punched up the ISO a bit while shooting.