Pulling Off The Ultimate Day-in-the-Life Shoot

My daughter agreed to let me follow her around for a day-in the-life session recently and truly, my Westcott Ice Light 2 with Barn Doors made it possible. The day I chose to shoot was DARK. It was overcast and dull with zero direction to the light. I had to crank my ISO to get a portrait right near the window! But I knew it was all going to be OK, because I could set my light on a stand and pump more oomph into the available light. From morning muffins to straightening her hair to naps with cats, I was able to move the light to my subject and create beautifully lit images anywhere.

As photographers, we are always aware of light. We are usually more aware of when the light is awful and we know that we cannot make the image we want in the light we are given. As a photographer who balances her time between staged and spontaneous moments, I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of a lightweight continuous light, and Westcott’s Ice Light 2 has been invaluable. From portraits to food and every real moment in between, I use this light frequently to make images work in places where I normally wouldn’t even try.

How to Make a Day of It

1. Waking Up

My daughter is a very hard sleeper, so I just added the Ice Light to the scene and shot away. The light in the room was very dim, and my ISO was cranked through the roof, so the Ice Light added that bit of directional light I wanted to be able to create a real image with the moody light I love. I chose to overpower the bit of light coming from the windows in the opposite direction and rely solely on the Ice Light. I was able to adjust the intensity until it looked great to my eye. The fact that what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG), is invaluable to me! As much as I love a great strobe, I really love being able to quietly get my scene to fit my vision without disturbing my subject.

2. Getting Ready

Our bathroom has a huge window, but everyone likes to keep the shade closed due to the neighbor’s view into the room. I hid the Ice Light behind a small wall and used my daughter’s body to block the light and yet illuminate her face in the mirror. I could have opened the window, but I really wanted to be able to send the light off at an angle. While I could have opened the shade to make it work, the Ice Light gave me an option I liked better.

3. Breakfast Muffin

Our new kitchen has very low lighting as it is in the basement of our home. We have huge windows, but they are obscured by large window well egresses that mute much of the natural light. I placed the Ice Light near the table sending its beam in the same direction of the natural light from the window. I opened the barn doors wide to spread the light to the kitchen cabinets behind her. The light was also perfect for an overhead shot of her breakfast and the fuzzy blanket wrapped around her.

4. Reading for School

She reads stacks of interesting books for school, so I wanted to capture this integral part of our day. She chose a chair that was a in a very dark corner that was not very good for a portrait. I played with the Ice Light as she read and I decided to bounce the light off of the really dark and heavy door behind and to the side of her chair. It was an interesting opportunity to use this bounced light to add visual interest to an otherwise boring frame. I show you how to play with this bounced light in post-processing in the video linked below.

BONUS!  See the editing video!

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5. Domino Game

My kids enjoy playing games together to break up their day. Today, they played dominos and I found the natural light to be great for direction, but far too weak to make a nice image without cranking the ISO into the stratosphere. I placed the light right on the tabletop, positioned in the same direction as the natural light from the window. I used the game box to flag the light on the table and recreate the same image I took in natural light, but with the help of the Ice Light. One of my favorite uses for the Ice Light is tabletop photography, be it food, still life, or action shots of games like this. Overhead shots and the Ice Light are a match made in heaven!

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6. Kitty Time

Charlie is an ever-present ball of energy in our home. He eventually crashes though, and then he is looking for any opportunity to snuggle with someone to take a nap, preferably right on top of you by your face. My daughter was more than willing to take a nap with him, so I set my Ice Light near the sofa, which was completely devoid of any natural light. As predicted, he inched closer to her face and fell asleep, with her shortly to follow. This sofa was impossibly dark, and absolutely not possible without supplemental lighting.

7. Working in the Wood Shop

My husband likes to teach our kids about woodworking, but the wood shop is anything but photogenic. It has florescent lighting and lots of background distractions. I decided to go for a dramatic scene with the attention being thrown onto their activity. I set the light up next to the workbench and capitalized on the dark background to capture the dust cloud as my daughter blew sanded dust off the old chair. My favorite overhead vantage point completed the story of their work that night.

8. Crocheting

My daughter LOVES to crochet. Our cat-with-no-name (otherwise known as ‘Gray Cat’) came and sat by her as she worked. The light helped to illuminate both the cat and her yarn work. I love how the light gives an old-world art feel to a rather normal moment. This is very much my ideal image. It is timeless and classic, but it has true meaning to me — real life as art.

Words & Photos by Caroline Jensen

This is a sponsored post.

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