I have heard many photographers scoff at using lighting equipment for portrait photography, calling themselves “natural light photographers.”
However, it is not a pejorative label if you are using natural light effectively. Indeed, with care and proper technique, as well as the cooperation of the model, natural light portraits can be as impressive as those taken with strobes or other types of off-camera lighting. other photo.
Here are some tips to help you make the most of the light you have.
It’s all in the posing
Much of the effective use of natural light relies on it. Literally. While studio lighting equipment can let you post your subject the way you want, you can’t actually move the sun across the sky. However, you can move your subject, and frequently positioning the face in one direction can create one photo that is noticeably different from another. Just check out this alternate scene at the top of this post:
The sun that day was quite harsh, the sky was cloudless. While shooting directly into it is questionable, there’s a tower atop Sleeping Giant State Park in Connecticut that offers some opportunities to experiment with that look. The tower has countless openings to allow diffused light to enter the structure, but this particular location is right at the outer edge of the building. When the subject of the photo looks straight at the camera, one side of his face is covered in darkness while the other side is almost blurred by sunlight. However, facing the sun results in looking more or less directly at the sun. That’s what I asked him to do in a split second, and I was able to capture it using the high-speed shutter feature on my camera. Canon EOS M6 Mark II Camera.
It’s really all in setting the subject. Even in softer light, this is still important. Take a look at this scene, one with the subject facing the camera and one facing the light:
The only difference is that I’m using light from the hole in the tower to illuminate the subject’s face. I asked him to lean into it by turning his face toward the light rather than toward me.
Obviously, this limits the composition in some way, but on the plus side, you don’t have to carry lighting equipment to the top of a long, steep route.
Look for clean shots
When you can’t make the environment work the way you want or the lighting doesn’t cooperate with the natural framing you desire, there’s no shame in using clean, simple lighting. Just like you would in any other situation, look for walls flooded with window light or shaded areas where you don’t have to deal with shadows and overly contrasting lights. Bringing home a usable photo is the goal of any photo shoot, and no one can fault a clean, simple portrait.
It may not be very artistic, but the lighting is clear and allows the use of a lower ISO for a clearer overall image. All I have to worry about is composition and posing. If you need assistance and don’t have any other lights on hand, there’s always the iPhone flashlight to add a little extra light, but don’t expect it to block out much of the sun.
Conclusion
It’s always great to have lights on hand, but shooting using only natural light forces you to think a little more carefully about that composition, about that angle or pose. Sometimes it’s a fresh challenge to keep your skills sharp.
