My hunksband (the SEO and wordpress guru) insists that I put these catchy titles on these photo tips blog posts. “There are reasons for that” he insists. And since I know absolutely zilch about all that technical stuff I just nod my head and say “THANK YOU WordPress guru for being so amazing. And good looking.” And then I go and make a cheesy title. Even though the title sometimes seems more exciting than the blog post, like last weeks super hype-ey “The KEY to great photography!” … which you were probably hoping held the master secret that all the pros had been hiding for years. Some magical key that was going to make you a Jasmine Star superstar overnight right? eh, sorry for the let-down guys ;) And that my friends was a long intro to explain my slight discomfort with cheesy blog titles and to segway into todays fabulous: Give your photos the ‘WOW’ factor with this tip on natrual light!

Soooo guess what we’re going to talk about today? Light. Yep, again. I know, I know … but really I’m pretty sure I could blog 52 weeks about light and not repeat myself.

Ok, maybe that’s a challenge for another year :)

But remember how we talked about how great light needs little help … well today we’re going to talk about my favorite TYPE of great light.

Yes, there are a lot of “types” of light… and this one is my absolute, hands-down, makes me sing and jump and down favorite.

I like to call it “filtered backlight with a lot of light in front” Let’s make that a technical term shall we? :) When the sun comes out again (you know, in four months) then I’ll happily put up a post about how to locate this light and take pictures and show you the whole deal. But in the meantime I’ll just talk about it.

See that light filtering through the trees in the back? This picture was taken in the morning when the light was at a perfect angle in the sky to light up this lovely family. That light also gives a lovely glow to the trees and a warmth to the picture that would have been totally missing if they had simply been standing in open shade and facing the light.

To me, backlighting that is filtered (instead of strong and direct like if they were standing with nothing but the sun and sky to their back) is the most gorgeous type of light! Because it is filtering through the trees you are able to clearly see the highlights on the hair and clothing — it’s not lost in a white sky behind them, which is often what happens with strong backlit skies. Plus tree bokeh and the way light hits trees and illuminates leaves … so.gorgeous.

Anyway, this is probably too much talking! haha. Let’s leave you with one last comparison:

These two family shots were taken  in the same field with the trees at their back (just at a slightly different angle) but one was taken about 45 minutes earlier when the sun was filtering through the trees. The second still has good light … but look at the lovely glow in the first picture!

SO, my photo tip for the day? Learn to notice light. See where it falls on the ground, on faces and clothing, in trees. The more you are aware of light and learn to love it … the better your photos will become.

Want to learn more about finding great light? Sign up for my email list to get the first announcements about dates for my upcoming, hands-on photography classes this spring!