i'm going to start this post off with a big 'ole fat disclaimer:
generally i have no clue what i'm doing, and somehow manage to muddle through and make things ok. *how's THAT for honesty? ;) i am by NO MEANS under the impression that my way is the right way or that i don't have anything to learn (i know just enough about photoshop to really screw something up, and i usually edit based on eye-balling it in lightroom - i know, so very technical... i'm working on it y'all)
this past weekend was EASTER - and besides the obvious reasons for my adoration of this holiday (Christ saving us from our sins?! hollaaaaa) i LOVE the traditions that go along with it.
these include, but are in no way limited to:
1. sunrise services
2. ham
3. fresh sunday dresses
4. easter egg hunts / dying eggs
5. pictures right after church
the first four don't really have anything to do with this post, but that LAST one...
there are so many pictures of my little sister and me in our sunday frocks and bonnets out in the front yard of the house or church on many an easter day. nana would brush our hair a few extra strokes and make sure our frilly socks stuck out just enough from those white shoes.
i look at those pictures now and all i can see is the harsh light and the raccoon eyes the sun casts on people's faces around mid-day - what was nana thinking!? taking pictures at such a terrible time...
now i know that every picture doesn't have to be a masterpiece and that sometimes it's just about having your camera and actually taking a picture to document, but there are a few things you can do to make your pictures just a little better!
after church is the perfect time to take pictures of the family (everyone is dressed so nicely! and together! and excited because they're getting ready to eat ham!), except for the fact that the LIGHT is terrible! when the sun is directly over head it is difficult to take pictures without some parts of the picture being too bright (over exposed) or too dark/shadowed (under exposed).
here is a side-by-side lightroom edit i did of one of the pictures from sunday right after church - it was around 12:30 so the sun was very high in the sky
first of all, i made sure our backs were to the sun - this way a shadow would be cast over our entire face and the front of our bodies so the lighting was more even then if we were facing the sun.
we also didn't have to squint!
as you can see in the image on the left, it's pretty dark, but will's shoulders and the light on everyone's hair makes it look almost white... the super bright part of the picture (shoulders and hair) is OVER exposed, but the overall picture is what i would consider to be UNDER exposed (it's much too dark for my taste!
to remedy this as best as possible i added fill light in lightroom and pulled the recovery bar back to try and bring back some of the really blown out highlights. i also very slightly adjusted the brightness bar!
(this isn't color corrected because i later made it black and white!)
it is by NO MEANS a great picture, but it is much better than a picture taken facing the sun or not far enough away from the sun that the subjects' faces aren't completely shadowed.
i hope this was helpful! and you can use it for future family get-togethers when you NEED to take a picture, but can't wait for the beautiful golden rays of sunset and no one is willing to wake up at sunrise ;)
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