Existing Light Portraits

The best way would be using a sturdy tripod. Also it is not a bad idea to use the white reflector.

There's a knack to available light portraiture, back in the mid 70's I made a living doing them. It's not difficult but it is intuitive, I started when a friend asked me to shoot portraits of him and his 3 sisters for their parents as a Silver wedding present. For about 2 years I shot hundreds of commercial shoots, then changed direction entirely.

I have to admit that I lost the knack, once I began using studio flash and shooting commercial work I lost enthusiasm for available light portraits. I guess I got lazy.

So I have a lot of respect for photographers like Cheryl jacobs and Nicole, and I raelly enjoy seeing & looking at their images. I don't want to go back - landscape photography is what I enjoy shooting most now and I still shoot rock bands live for a record label but unfortunately no longer with film.

Ian

I just did a cursory read through this thread, but I am surprised no one mentioned the MOST important accessory of all - the incident light meter. Knowing how to use one with natural light will make or break your image. It's particularly important if you're using it in combination with a flash - like in a single light set up environmental portraits or even with your on camera flash or hotshoe mounted flash. It's also particularly useful to know just how much fill light you'll get with various available reflectors.

I 'meter' the general environment so that I know the light in the nooks and crannies, by the various windows, etc... and not having to meter before every single shot. Anyway, this is an old thread, so I'm not sure this information is useful to you any more. Show us some pics if you've taken them already.

Regards, Art.

I find a very useful silver mottled reflector that can be rolled up and put in my camera bag is a space blanket that can be bought from camping and outdoor shops.