My Favouite Photography Tips: Using Natural Light

Natural light is the most important and powerful tool available to photographers.  Without light, photography could not exist.  In fact, the word photography is a combination of the Greek root words “photo” meaning “light” and “graphia” meaning “writing” or “drawing.”  So photography literally means “writing or drawing with light.”

Observing Light

Finding and using good light is probably the single most important thing you can do to get the biggest improvements in your photos.

I LOVE light -- sometimes I think I'm obsessed with it!  I'm constantly looking out for good light.  Start becoming more aware of light, even when you are not photographing. Observe light in your everyday life and how it interacts with everything around you.  

The Golden Hour

Try photographing during the Golden Hour.  This is many photographer’s favourite time of day to shoot outdoors.  It's roughly the first hour of light after sunrise, and the last hour of light before sunset.  The sun is low in the sky producing a soft warm light.

Cloudy Days

Don’t be put off photographing on a cloudy day.  Cloudy days are perfect for photography.  Clouds are nature’s soft box!

Clouds diffuse the sun so you don’t get harsh shadows or too much contrast in your photos.

Find Open Shade

If you are photographing in the middle of the day and the sun is bright, find some open shade to photograph in.  Place your subject in the shade so direct sunlight is not hitting him, but he is looking out of the shade toward the open sky.  It's usually best to keep your subject near the outskirts of the shade, not in the deepest or darkest part of the shade.

Here's an example of a photo shot in open shade during the afternoon when the sun was bright.  It's important to remember to have the subject facing out of the shade toward the bright sky, in order to get some great light onto their eyes and face.

Natural Light Indoors
Use light coming in from windows.  Pay attention to how natural light changes in your home throughout the day.  Try to photograph during the times when the light is bright, but not when the sun is shining directly through the window.

The photo below shows one of my favourite areas in my home for taking photos.  The window in this room is west facing, so in the mornings it's usually too dark, but wait for early afternoon and the light is always perfect.

If it’s very dark inside, you may have to put your subject literally right next to a window.

If you are struggling to get good light indoors, open a door and place your subject in the light coming in through the doorway.

Catch Lights

Catch lights happen when light reflects from your subject’s eye.  Without catch lights a subject appears empty, but with them your image can really come to life.  Get great catch lights by placing your subject near a window, or facing a light source.

Lighting Angles

Front Light:  The light source is behind you (the photographer), and shining evenly onto your subject's face.  Front light produces flat even light across your subject's face, usually with no harsh shadows.  Not ideal in bright sunshine.  Watch out for squinting.

Side:  The light source is to your right or left.  Side light creates a more dramatic image and shows more texture.  Watch out for shadows that are too dark.

Back:  The light source is in front of you (the photographer), and shining onto the back of your subject.  Back light creates soft even hazy light.  It can create a glowing effect around your subject.  Back lighting can produce stunning images, but exposure is difficult.  Watch that your subject doesn't become too dark.

Flash

I rarely use flash so I'm not going to go into detail here about the best ways to use it. However, the one thing I want to say about flash is if you need it, USE IT!  Don’t miss capturing a special moment because someone told you never to use flash. 

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So once again, finding and using good light is probably the single most important thing you can do to get the biggest improvements in your photos.

Become an observer of light.  Take time everyday to see how the light around you changes and how it interacts with everything around you.

Learning to see light will take time, but as you practice observing light everyday and using it to your advantage, I promise you will see big improvements in your photography.