Shooting With Natural Light

UNLESS IT’S REALLY YOUR JAM, strobe photography isn’t exactly the favorite of some shutterbugs due to a number of things: 

- Patrick Alcantara

1 there’s extra effort required to carry the equipment,

2 it takes extra time to set them up, and

3 you need extra skills to sculpt the light properly.

Still, no matter how sweaty you get in setting up studio lights, at least you are able to set the tone to warm or cool, adjust the intensity of luminescence to your liking, and point the light wherever you wish. But even though the use of artificial light enables photographers to customize the look of their frames, the lion’s share favors the quicker method of using natural light.

Natural light, or “available” light, is any illumination that wasn’t set up intentionally. It could be the brightest bulb in the room, a spotlight, a candle, and the truest “natural” form—sunlight. But don’t be fooled! Using sunlight is actually easier said than done. You may need to be extra resourceful in finding the right environment and have lots of patience to capture the perfect moment.

But the good news is, you can always look forward to the “golden hour”—the hour before sunrise and the hour before sunset—when the sun provides additional warmth, texture, details, and depth to photos, fitting exquisitely in shooting portraits and scenic views.