Finding & shooting in pockets of light
One of my passions as a photographer is memory keeping and documenting my own family life on an ongoing basis. Having a camera on hand all the time means we have an incredible tool to capture our own memories and preserve the little stories that unfold daily in our homes. Combine these images with an understanding of light and composition and you can create some pretty magical images! Today I’m sharing how I use pockets of light to document my children in an interesting and captivating way. // Words & Images by Bec Zacher. All images edited with Story Keeper Presets.
POCKETS OF LIGHT
When I started in photography I shot mostly in ‘safe’ even light, such as in the shade or indoors in an evenly lit room. Once I was comfortable with this kind of lighting I started to experiment with interesting pockets of light that I saw around my house. This is when I fell in love with the way that light can dramatically change an image and add a ton of interest to a pretty mediocre moment! I’m now so drawn to interesting pockets of light and look for them everywhere! My camera lives on my bench and is always ready to shoot with so I can take a photo quickly before the light is gone and it really does change quickly so being prepared is key!
TAKE A LIGHT WALK AROUND YOUR HOME
I want you to take a light walk around your house over the next few days. Take notice of how the light falls in your home at various times of the day. You will start to notice that in the mornings and afternoons, you will see a lot more pockets of light coming directly into your home as the sun is closer to the horizon and that means it’s likely shining directly through your windows somewhere in your home. At midday, you’ll notice that the light throughout your house is a lot more even as you won’t have much direct hard light streaming through the windows.
If you’ve ever thought that you can’t shoot in your house as it’s too dark and has terrible light, I challenge you to have a new look at it over the next few days and take notice of which windows get the most light or where light streams in at certain points in the day. It will be there unless you live in a home with zero windows which I’m sure you don’t.
We recently moved into a new house and the morning light is amazing! Every morning it streams into different parts of the kitchen and dining areas and in the afternoons, the light comes directly into the bedrooms. I’m always on the lookout for how I can create images of our everyday life in these spaces and how I can add interest by accentuating moments with the available light that’s streaming in.
CAMERA SETTINGS FOR SHOOTING IN POCKETS OF LIGHT
Once you wrap your head around how to shoot in small pockets of light, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities for you as you can create images in any room/location you’re in. Being able to photograph in this kind of light means you can document simple moments in a dynamic and captivating way.
EXPOSURE
My biggest tip when it comes to shooting in this kind of light is to expose for the highlights.
What this means is that you want to expose your image for the brightest part of the photo. If you don’t do this the very bright areas can be blown out and contain no detail and can be quite jarring in an image. Check your own camera manual and see if you have a setting that allows you to turn on ‘zebras’. This brings up zebra stripes on your screen when part of an image is overexposed.
METERING
When I’m shooting in these types of lighting scenarios I use spot metering. Your camera will have a variety of metering modes, most likely - spot, evaluative and centre weighted modes. These modes all read light a little differently in your image and help you exposure accordingly so they are worth experimenting with. Head over here to have a good read about how metering works.
USING A MOBILE PHONE TO SHOOT WITH
You can easily use a mobile phone to shoot with and create some great images using pockets of light. Many phone cameras give you the ability to adjust the exposure in the camera. On an iPhone, you do this by pulling the yellow sun icon up or down that appears on your screen when you are in camera mode. You can use this to expose your image for the brightest area and create dramatically lit images like the examples shown below. If you want more options, download the free Lightroom Mobile app. It has a whole range of features that you can use when shooting images and allows you to adjust many settings. Check out this tutorial for more info about controlling exposure on a mobile phone.
As an example, this image below was taken in a room that was very bright and filled with direct morning light. There was a strong pocket of light being cast on the ground. When I took this image I took my exposure settings from the brightest spot on the floor using the spot metering mode. This meant that the rest of the room fell into shadow and the beam of light wasn’t blown out. If I had exposed for the light in the whole room, this beam of light would have been extremely bright and my subject would have no detail at all.
DIFFERENT POCKETS OF LIGHT
HARD LIGHT
Hard light is found when the light source is very directional and is lighting your subject from one particular direction. Hard light can help you create a specific mood and a more dynamic image when you place your subjects in it or incorporate it into your frame. It makes the colours pop and creates strong contrasts between highlights and shadows which gives the image more depth. Exposing for the brightest part of the image is key to shooting in this kind of light.
Here are some examples of hard pockets of light. All of these images are shot in either the morning or the afternoon on a bright sunny day. By exposing for the pocket of light and placing the subject in that light I’ve been able to create very dramatic images with really interesting pops of light.
DAPPLED LIGHT
Dappled light is light that is filtered through an object, most commonly through trees and leaves. You will often find this light outdoors or coming into your home if the light coming through your windows is throwing shadows and shapes from objects as it beams in. I use to avoid this kind of light but now I find it so fun to shoot in! It’s so unique every time and makes for some pretty amazing photos!
DOORWAY LIGHT
Shooting in doorways is a great way to add lots of depth to your image and to light your subject even on the darkest of days. Have your subject sit in the doorway and face the outside. Take the image by standing outside and shoot back towards the doorway.
You can also use the light coming through the doorway in much the same way as you can use window light as you can see in the next section.
WINDOW LIGHT & SIDE LIGHT
This is one of my favourite kinds of light to use in my house. It’s possible to use this kind of light even on the gloomiest day so if you have a house that you think is too dark to shoot in, this is the kind of light for you! Place your subject beside a window and shoot the scene from all different angles. If you shoot back towards your subject when they are facing a window, their face will be illuminated really well and they will often have catchlights in their eyes.
Another way to use this light is to move around and shoot your subject from the side so that they are only party lit by the window light and the light falls away and creates more depth.
The last house we lived in was quite dark throughout the day but every afternoon the most beautiful light came through the front window as the sun was setting. This fast became one of my favourite spots to take photos. The trees outside also meant that there were lots of patterns cast on the curtains and floors. My kids would often play in this loungeroom area so every afternoon I could capture them in various ways and play around with the light.
SUNFLARES
I love sun flares and if I have the opportunity to have them in my image, I always will. If you are shooting indoors and the sunlight is streaming through the window, move around your subject so that you can get the sun coming directly into your frame. This is much easier in the morning and afternoons when the light is low and streaming directly into your house. To create some amazing sharp flares, shoot with a narrow aperture such as 3.5 and above. The higher the aperture number, the more distinct your sun flares will be. On the flip side, if you shoot with a wide-open aperture of 2.0 - 1.2, your flares will be soft and the flare lines won’t be distinctive.
Questions? + Join the Story Keeper Community
I really hope that you have found this helpful and gleaned some tips for yourself that you can start implementing today! I know you might have questions so come join the Story Keeper Private Facebook group where we all chat and share tips together and make sure you come join the Story Keeper Instagram community as well.