How to Use Natural Light in Your Photography

What is Natural Light Photography?

Natural light photography uses the sun as the main light source. The amount of natural light that appears in your photo will depend on the time of day, whether you’re indoors or outdoors, and how you compose your shot. Shooting photos with natural light can add color, texture, and contrast to your photoshoots.

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What are the Benefits of Using Natural Light in Photos?

Whether you’re a novice photographer or an expert, there are benefits to practicing natural light photography:

• Natural light sources are free to use.
• Indoor and outdoor settings have natural light.
• Natural light is flattering for all skin tones.
• Natural light offers variety.
• Different types of natural light can be used to adjust your photo’s color scheme.

Is Afternoon Lighting Different?

You can find natural light during any time of the day, but afternoon lighting can be challenging to work with. In the afternoon, look for moments where the sun casts a slightly more yellow but subtle light on your subject. This subtle type of natural light can enhance your subject’s skin tone, reduce exaggerated highlights, and soften harsh shadows in your photos.

Natural Light Photography Tips

Natural light can help you produce various types of aesthetics, from earthy and low-key to high-concept and polished. The following tips can help you use natural light photography to evoke emotions, highlight your subject’s features, and alter colors that appear in your frame.

Diffuse the Natural Light

If the natural light is too bright, diffuse it. If you need less light, photograph your subject in the shade and let the natural light hit your subject from the side. Taking photos of your subject standing under a tree can provide a decent amount of shade while allowing direct sunlight to cut through the leaves’ gaps.

Find the Best Angle

Depending on how you angle your subject to the sunlight, the position can create shadows or highlights. If you want the natural light to only shine on a certain part of your subject, like half of their face or their hair, you’ll want to turn them toward or away from the sun at a specific angle. Using angles in your natural light photography can help you control how the light hits your subject.

Take Advantage of the Weather

Don’t fret if there’s gloomy weather outside. While bright sun can make it simpler to photograph your subject, other types of natural light can help evoke different emotions. Cloudy skies, rain drops, and fog can help create dark, serious, or creepy vibes. The subtle differences in color between your subject, the sky, and the ground can strengthen your photo as well.

Use Reflected Natural Light

If you’re looking for a soft glow in your photos, use reflected natural light. Windows, mirrors, and bodies of water are all examples of reflective light sources you can use in your photos. Reflective light can also make the colors in your photo more interesting. The light bouncing off the bare sky or ocean might add a blue cast to your subject.

Aim to Shoot in the Morning or Evening

Even though it’s possible to shoot during any time of the day, the greatest sources of natural light are when the sun sets and rises. The natural light from sunsets and sunrises offers soft lighting and softer shadows. The different hues of white, yellow, orange, and red add versatility to your photo’s color scheme too.

Place Direct Light on Your Subject

If you want to avoid shadows in your photo, place your subject in the direct line of the sun. This is the simplest way to take great-looking, outdoor photos. The direct lighting will cast a warm glow on your subject. Direct light photography also ensures that your subject is seen to its full extent.

Without light, your subject won’t be seen. While artificial lighting sources can get expensive, free natural lighting produces stellar photos as well. No matter what time of day you’re shooting in, you can play with natural lighting to create different photography results. Store and share your naturally lit photos online using Microsoft OneDrive. Include the photos throughout your presentation to captivate your audience.