Regular readers of my blog know that I’m teaching a location photography class fall term at The Art Institute of Portland. My first class was Wednesday. I want to start the students off with a really solid foundation for shooting outdoors so decided to start with only natural light. No reflectors even – at least for the first assignment.
Never one to dish out work assignments and wait for results, I had a model meet us for the first class. I took the students outdoors, where we had early afternoon light that was a bit harsh. We walked maybe three blocks near the school. I was shooting and trying to find impromptu spots that would work well for this demo. The first homework assignment is for the students to do the same thing – shoot five natural light photos outdoors with no reflectors or strobes. We’ll be critiquing their shots in class this coming week so I figured it was only fair I share my five photos I shot for the class demo.
Remember – this was completely unscripted. I hadn’t scouted out locations, didn’t know what the weather would be like, and had no idea what I was going to shoot until I started – a little bit like a real photo shoot! The goal is to give the students a solid base of natural light shooting experience so they’re never feel nervous in that type of situation where they have to deliver results under less than ideal conditions with only minimal gear (’cause that does happen all the time!)
Model Kerry
