Photoshoot tips: Working with Natural Light
Hi everyone and welcome back to my photoshoot tips blog. I am a portrait photographer with a focus on families and couples. In this blog post, I will give three tips for working in natural light.
I love working in natural light. It can give your photos an ethereal glow if you know how to harness it properly. Some photographers prefer only to work when it’s golden hour, which is the hour before sunset. However, I think photographers can use any time of the day to capture stunning images with natural light.
Tip #1: Find shade and where the sun is positioned
The most important thing about working with natural light is finding shade and the positioning of the sun. Finding a shady place to capture the photos is the best because the lighting will be the most even there. Additionally, it’s important to take note of where the sun is positioned. The sun is constantly moving, so you want to make sure your subjects are positioned in the most optimal place for that beautiful halo effect. The sun can used to backlight a subject or highlight them, depending on where you place your subjects in regards to where the sun is positioned.
In the shade
For this photo of Kristalyn, we were underneath the shade of trees. You can be see the white of the snow behind her, but her face is completely shaded by the trees which helps to even out the lighting.
Backlighting
For this image of Ife, I positioned him on this bench with the sun behind him. That gave him a nice backlight, creating a halo effect around his body.
Tip #2: Play with shadows
The next tip to working with natural lighting is to play with shadows. While it’s best to have even lightning on your subject’s face, sometimes shadows give your photos some very cool effects and cast interesting shapes. Shadows can also help hide or highlight certain focal points.
Shadows in the background
In this photo, my model is in the even lighting while there are shadows on the wall behind her. The shadows help create leading lines, drawing your gaze to the model.
Creating highlights
In this photo, my model has a shadow running across the upper left-half of his face while highlighting his beautiful smile.
Tip #3: Don't be afraid of shooting at nighttime
My last tip for working with natural light is to not be afraid of shooting at night. It can seem scary because the natural light is much dimmer at night, but artificial lighting can also create a beautiful images.
This shot was taken in Biltmore Park which has a lot of street lamps set up. This was taken when the trees were covered in lights. The lights created a beautiful bokeh (blurry lights) effect in the background. It also cast a light on my model’s face.
So, as you go about with your next photoshoots, don’t be afraid to play with natural light. I hope these three easy tips will help you better understand how to work with natural lighting on your next photoshoot.
