If you asked 50 photographers what inspires them to shoot you would not doubt get some very varied responses but without doubt one of their inspirations would be great light.

I don’t need much inspiration to photograph my children but I’d be a liar if I said the light in this image had no part to play with me grabbing my camera.

We were out camping and had just finished eating when the light broke through the rather heavy clouds and the whole field in front of our tent glowed in golden light.

I grabbed my camera and laid down in the grass waiting for my children to ignore me which they often do except when I haven’t a camera in my hand!

After 5-10 minutes my eldest daughter Gracie decided to start dancing around the field and I reacted quickly to fire off 6-7 frames while she played to the camera.

I have photographed many people,models and even a few celebrities over the years and my approach to lighting was and still is to keep it as simple as possible.

This is a good example of very simple but stunning natural lighting (no reflectors or flashes).

To me this type of lighting (back lighting) is probably the most beautiful lighting set up’s (if you can call it a set up) you can use especially when shooting females.

The only modification I made was to add 1 extra stop of exposure to my camera meter to allow more detail on Gracie’s face and further lighten the background.

Watch Out For Lens Flare When Shooting With This Type Of Lighting.

Gracie Dancing In The Summer Light

Canon 1Ds Mk 2

28-70mm Lens Set At 70mm

Shutter 1600 @ 2.8

400 iso