Mark and His Grandmother- Natural Light or Flash?

Last Saturday at the First Communion party, Mark wanted to recreate a photo he found from a little book I made him years ago.  The original was photographed in 1976!

He was sitting on his paternal Grandmother’s lap in a rocking chair in the original.

I took the pose with available light first and then with the flash.  Here are the two different versions.  I see more light his their eyes in the flash version yet am drawn to the available light.

Either way, Mark was very happy his grandmother flew in from Kansas City to help celebrate Michael’s special day.

with GrandmanitaMark and Grandmanita in 1976 and 2014

 

mark and his grandmother

20 thoughts on “Mark and His Grandmother- Natural Light or Flash?

  1. I prefer the natural light. This is a sweet photo either way. A new one for the photo book.

  2. I suppose natural lighting most matches the way we actually see people or things throughout the day…..

  3. I think the flash photo looks more “professional”, and the natural light photo looks more relaxed. The flash image makes Mark and his grandma seem “separate” from me (more like professional actors than everyday people), whereas the natural light photo makes them seem more personal and ‘real’.

  4. Well the natural light is perfect with the wonderful side light coming in from the window but you could have used a remote flash with a color filter accentuate it. Actually, they’e both great photos.

    • Yikes I don’t even own a color filter, Scott. But I should look into them I know. I am quite basic. I love documenting my family and they have been good collaborators, too. The little one says.”for the blog.” I appreciate your thoughts and still remember your words from the workshop about a photo needing to get on the bus to Toledo! Thanks for your thoughts.
      Ruth

      • Until I did a Joe McNally workshop in NYC last fall I always though a fill flash was just fine then when we explored remote shooting and filters and gels it went off in my head like a bolt of lightening. Immediately after that session, which happened to end up on the East Side, I marched up to B&H and got one of the new Canon flashes. Now I need to the get WIFI transmitter because nobody told me I needed that to shoot around corners but I still love it just using the optical link.

      • B&H has everything and then some! Very good to know about the color filter. I have used them in the darkroom years ago, a different horse.
        I have the 580x(Canon) flashes. Do I need a whole new flash? Thanks for your info. Going to do some more research.

      • The 580 is a great flash. The 600 EX-RT is pretty much the same flash but wireless enabled which allows you to set up groups of flashes and you don’t need line of sight between the camera and the remote flash. The 600 EX-RT without the transmitter (which acts as a master) is essentially a 580 that costs $150 more. If you get the 600-EX be sure you get the transmitter then you can use both flashes at the same time and really do some funky stuff. Using remote flashes has opened up a whole new world for me. Still learning but it’s fun.

Leave a Reply to Eva TaylorCancel reply