rescue the baby!
My first & favorite portrait shoot in the most perfect light the world has to offer. Baby Claire liked to trundle straight into the water, full speed ahead. Her sister though it was the funniest thing ever, and her mom was cool enough to let her get in there, but save her from the approaching waves, since Claire had no concept of keeping her baby self safe.
Comments and faves
t-squared, hurleygurley, GustavoG, helter-skelter, and 172 other people added this photo to their favorites.
tokyo knock (89 months ago | reply)
w0w! beautiful tones.
the sunlight is wrapping them softly.
Loua (89 months ago | reply)
What wonderful light and used to give such atmosphere. Brilliant
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (89 months ago | reply)
thanks thanks! revisiting this series in anticipation of summer warmth
Dawn Endico (89 months ago | reply)
Lovely! It reminds me of this one of mine, except here, the little one is big enough to have the freedom to get knocked over by a wave. Plus, of course, your photo turned out a lot nicer. =) That family must love your photo. What a happy moment in their lives.
cbstottle (89 months ago | reply)
Very very nice. You have a gift, and are using it well.
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (89 months ago | reply)
Woman - I think about the littler kids too, how they won't remember it really, but will have these rocking pictures to look back on. That's the whole idea, makes me quite pleased!
CB, thank you so much :)
Just_Jane (89 months ago | reply)
most lovely picture I had ever seen of playing in the sea
hurleygurley (89 months ago | reply)
Thanks, a follow up to one of my all time faves of yours (so many), it was a similar beach shot, same light with a girl in green, surreal but still gentle.
hurleygurley (89 months ago | reply)
Do you reveal secrets about how you create the surreality in most of your images? I have struggled to get this sort of color and light but haven't come close.
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (89 months ago | reply)
I reveal. Hmmm... you'll have to be more specific on individual shots, since most of them are done differently and many have little to no PS other than toning. In the seaside session (those with this family) I was hugely helped by simply amazing light. Low, late sun, incredibly warm, with a dark moody sky behind. Wind kicked up sea spray to make everything seem misty and delicate and the family followed my instructions re dress to the letter, arriving in the these perfect colors and sundresses that caught the light and glowed from within.
So in this case, I wanted to accentuate what was already there, that surreal light/dark and the rich colors against a homogenous background. How to do that?
Accentute the light falling on them by darkening the rest. All of these have a vignette applied to them, some very subtle, so you don't even notice that the edges are darker than the middle, but they seem to glow from the frame. Second, accentuate the strangeness of the light, the mistiness, by using a small aperture to blur the background, then applying a small amount of Gaussian blur in photoshop to give the blur that dreamy feel. Just add it in a layer and erase it from the people.
The one thing I almost always do, in almost all of my photos, is increase the contrast and burn (darken) just the shadows. It makes everything richer and more pure feeling, defines edges and shadows, makes things feel 'alive' to me.
There ya go, more info than you know what to do with probably, but feel free to ask on specific photos if you're curious how the look was achieved. I'm an open Flickr book (specially to you, oh benefactrice) ;)
latenightowl (89 months ago | reply)
Fabulous to have the light working for you, and then knowing the perfect way to work with the light! You have so many wonderful images.
carf (89 months ago | reply)
Terrific lighting in this one Sara! What a perfect moment captured at the perfect time!
Gregory - The Hummingbird Project
hurleygurley (89 months ago | reply)
Thanks! Those were juicy tips, really!
the_girl (89 months ago | reply)
Great tips! I have a couple photos that will benefit from your technique!
Vision Aerie (89 months ago | reply)
I certainly appreciate your revelations on technique with PS (of which I'm .00099% proficient). The light is luxurious, almost surreal, but not unusual, just fleeting at these lower latitudes, and quite dependant on the sky condition. This kind of light was common when I lived and worked in Alaska throughout the 90s (it still is, I presume), given the always low angle of the sun during the colder part of the year, and very long twilight of the warmer months. It's also evident that the EOS 10D is a very capable digicam, another thing I need to learn about... how to decide upon an upper end SLR digital camera system (not to replace film, however) that I can justify affording--mainly for commercial purposes, such as the aerial real estate work I should start doing for real. When I see this kind of light in the field I get a little giddy, awestruck. And when a strong subject presents itself in this light... I go to work. I think you know what I mean.
Senn (89 months ago | reply)
Magic!
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (89 months ago | reply)
The 10D is great, though not the exposure latitude of (not slide) film. In a way it is great, teaches me to be extra careful with my exposures, lest I blow out my highlights and muddy up my shadows.
You should look into the 20D for your stuff, Dean. A bit larger (8mp) to give you more room to play and faster, better focusing (I read). And thanks!
melser (88 months ago | reply)
The light is magical, and the expression on the little girl's face is just priceless. Fantastic.
anashio (87 months ago | reply)
this is soooo beautiful!
nice light and moment!
Michael Casey (87 months ago | reply)
thank you for this wonderful image and thank you too for your technical notes and suggestions.
HORIZON (86 months ago | reply)
thank you for this highly technical image.
sweet distin (85 months ago | reply)
wow...inspirational
-Angela (85 months ago | reply)
Just amazing
galbert (83 months ago | reply)
Sara, It is a fantastic picture.
On a technical point of view when you say "increase the contrast and burn (darken) just the shadows" do you mean by using an "s" kind of curve or a local contrast enhancement technique as described by Sean T. McHugh in this tutorial ?
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (83 months ago | reply)
Neither, a much more quick and dirty kind of increased contrast, quite literally burning the shadows. Burn tool set very low (4% or less) on shadows, passed over any portions of the image that need to be darkened down without losing their depth.
I do sometimes use the technique described above, but sparingly.
olympic (83 months ago | reply)
Perfect exposure,great lighting!!
A superb image!
Imapix (81 months ago | reply)
Fantastique!
GreatPix!
ToBNot2B (81 months ago | reply)
so lovely!
vagabondrhythm (79 months ago | reply)
Thank you so much for revealing your magic! I appreciate the time you took to go into detail!
Sue Cloutier (77 months ago | reply)
Superbe photo, le bonheur en jaillit.
Sara Heinrichs (awfulsara) (77 months ago | reply)
merci bien!
PhotoGsy (76 months ago | reply)
Incredible shot, really, really superb.
Well done!
arutha (74 months ago | reply)
Wonderful!!
soobee (67 months ago | reply)
gorgeous photo - I love the expression on the big sister's face!
RL Johnson (66 months ago | reply)
Gorgeous lighting and expressions. Priceless. Fave.
Beckywithasmile (66 months ago | reply)
I love the direction the light is comming from.
Silcami (66 months ago | reply)
Beautiful shot. Thanks for your revelations.
Here in Van Nuys (65 months ago | reply)
I know the usual adjectives will have already been expended on this. But it's one of the most extraordinary captures I've seen lately.
mel born photographer (64 months ago | reply)
Loooooooooooooooooooove it!!
SpiceCandy (64 months ago | reply)
like in paradise!....
KeNNy KaPooR (62 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Where there is Love, there is Life :), and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
It would be great if u would like to join us:
Thanks in advance..............Good Day :)
Christine Rogers (62 months ago | reply)
really beautiful
JamesHodgson (61 months ago | reply)
Great shot!
Seen on Digital Photography School
SerialCoder (58 months ago | reply)
This image has been added to the Flickr Museum for making explore's top 25. Kudos!You can check it out here...
mobilya mutfak yatak genç odası (57 months ago | reply)
supper photo
kuijiegogo (57 months ago | reply)
Very beautiful!
myrthachang (51 months ago | reply)
Hi Sara, may I have your permission to use this photo? I do video tutorials on scrapbooking www.joyremembered.com and your photo would be great for a Beach scrapbook making video I am doing. I will credit your name on the photo, of course.
Myrtha Chang
Marit Welker Photography (40 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The Face of Innocence (p1, i1, c1) Join a contest!, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
So very precious! The light is amazing, but the beauty of that family moment far outshines it! Very nicely captured.
Please add it not just to the pool, but also to the contest in the discussion group, February Contest. Thank you so much!
Please post a medium size copy to the thread below:
The Face of Innocence February Contest -theme is water
Have a great day and congratulations on such an excellent shot!
zhizhong.lee (33 months ago | reply)
Lovely shot.
Don Photo Arts © 2009 (32 months ago | reply)
beautiful shot, saw this on dig photography school.com, i learned alot.
FabulousTerrah (29 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called *** Moms who enjoy traveling ***, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Dragonflyz' Photos (11 months ago | reply)
awesome shot! wow!