We would like to welcome Laura Frazier to the blog today! Laura is an Unraveled Expert Artist and a UA OG. Be inspired and learn more about Laura HERE in her interview.

Laura currently has two Lessons available inside the Academy, “Documenting Special Needs Families” and “Written in the Sky.” Both are incredibly inspiring and informative.

Learn from Laura inside the Academy.

About the Author:

Laura is a family photographer based out of Colorado and obsessed with the mountains. Her love of people keeps her passionate about documenting the stories each one of us uniquely possesses. When she is not begging her husband for another baby animal - you can find her with her two kids, three dogs and coffee in hand.

For more inspiration from Laura:

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5 Tips to Achieve Emotion Evoking Imagery in Your Home: Using Light and Shadows

Like so many of you reading this, I began my journey in photography in an effort to document my children and family. Learning how to use light and shadows indoors has been by far, one of the most important things in bringing depth and dimension into my personal images. My home isn’t always (ok, almost never) clean and my kids are not always dressed in their “picture worthy” outfits. However, I want them to remember what it was like growing up in these walls - so I am passionate about documenting daily life in our home.

Here are my five best tips for achieving emotion evoking imagery inside your home using light and shadows:

1. Find the light

As you know, not all homes have floor to ceiling windows that amplify light like a soft box! I have heard from so many photographers over the years that their house doesn’t have good light. It may not have the perfect light - but don’t let that discourage you! All houses have some kind of light - you just need to find it, understand it and make it work for you.

For example, our current home is north facing and I have found that the back of the house gets bright, harsh light first thing in the morning and soft light during the early afternoon. Well, our life doesn’t only happen in those rooms during the perfectly lit time of day. I needed to work around the lighting restrictions. Once I learned the light in my home and how it hits through my windows, I found more opportunities to capture images around it.

Here is an example of taking an opportunity to use the light you’ve taken the time to notice. My son loves to run down the hallway and jump on our bed. I love how the light from that window floods the hallway and since I am familiar with it - when my son was running around at the time the light was streaming in - I was able to capture it the way I envisioned.

2. Expose for highlights to create depth

Now, once you know the light in your home and can use it to your advantage you will find so many opportunities! I really like the contrast between light and shadows - so when I am shooting any kind of moody image indoors I will expose for the highlights. This helps you avoid an overexposed image and allows you creative flexibility when editing.

Here, I exposed for the highlights on the cabinets and pulled up the shadows just a touch in post processing.

3. Position your subject

Don’t be afraid to experiment with the position of yourself or your subject in order to optimize the light. For example, in this image - having my daughter turn her face towards the window illuminated her face and therefore made it a focal point for our eye. I like shooting with a wide lens (this is with my 24mm) in home to help tell the full story.

Here, I wanted to capture my son’s post bath hair that had us all giggling. I positioned him in front of the window and this made his hair and face highlighted but gave shadowy depth behind him.

4. Convert to black and white to add drama

Editing your images in black and white almost adds a sense of drama (in my opinion) and can really give your image that extra ‘oomph’ when it comes to emotional impact. This image isn’t particularly dramatic, but I love how the black and white version draws me right to his face.

5. Look for opportunity in the ordinary

The great thing about personal images is that they don’t have to be technically perfect and there is no pressure to create them a certain way since you aren’t delivering them to a client. Use this freedom to keep your eyes open for opportunities to capture feeling and memories in the ordinary moments of day to day life.

Gathering around the table is something that is really important to us as a family. So, I have many images centered around it because it is a part of who we are. Playing music after dinner and bedtime routines are also parts of our day that we really love and prioritize. It makes sense to me to intentionally capture these moments for myself and my children.