Birthday Girl

My younger sister turns 30 today (I hope she doesn’t mind me telling you that!) and I thought to myself, what better present could she get than an appearance on the blog? (I hope she doesn’t mind me doing that either!)  It’s not the first time a member of my family has appeared here on their birthday, which probably means the rest are getting a little worried.

If you’ve seen my recent blog entries, you may have noticed a photo of my nephew which is remarkably similar to this shot – that’s because the two were taken at the same place, in much the same way, within a few minutes of each other.

So the setup here is, once again, my Nikon D300 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens at its widest aperture, complete with the bokeh-shaping kit and a heart shaped ‘aperture’.  The lighting is almost entirely flash (almost, because obviously the Christmas lights which create the bokeh are self-illuminating) and it is bounced off the ceiling to soften it.  More so than the shot of Matthew, it is important when photographing females to use soft light for the most flattering look, and that is achieved here by transforming the ceiling into something akin to a large softbox.  I say akin, because it is not actually a softbox, but when I bounce flash off it, it takes on the characteristics of one: a large size, giving out diffuse light, with no hard source.

The resultant light on the subject is soft – that is, the transition into highlights or shadows are gradual, rather than abrupt.  This type of light is flattering for all portrait subjects, but particularly suited to female subjects.  It softens the skin, which is typically a feminine look.  If you’re photographing, say,  a fisherman with a weather-beaten face and want to convey all of that in the image, this is not the type of light you are after.  If you are photographing your sister and publishing the image on her 30th birthday, if definitely is.