Beautiful, diffused portraits in bright sunlight?

Beautiful, diffused portraits in bright sunlight?

Contributing Artist: Lena Hyde

Lena specializes in modern lifestyle child photography & photographer’s design resources.

Lena Hyde Photography

Design Aglow

Design Aglow is an online resource for information and products directed at professional wedding and portrait photographers. This site was created to inform, to teach, and to inspire.

This technique is not for the shy. If you are willing to look a little silly and get really close to your subject, this tip, dreamed up by John Santerre, is a handy one to keep in mind. The look produced is gorgeous and flattering because of the very mild shadow areas produced by the sheet’s super-diffusion. You might compare this to the “light boxes” used by professional product photographers.

You will need bright sunlight or another intense light source coming, ideally, from above and behind you.

Have your assistant stand behind the subject with two pieces of cloth. One is an opaque black cloth (this is a must for every location photographer) and the other is a regular, old white bed sheet. The black cloth should hang down behind your subject and the bed sheet should drape over the top of both of your heads.

Make sure to crop close, taking advantage of the flawless softness this technique creates. The black cloth will keep the background simple and mysterious and will create a huge contrast between it and the subject.

I would recommend that you shoot wide-open or close to it to draw attention to the eyes and to blur out any stray sheet that may be present in the background.