How to use natural light in photography.

Natural lighting is the most important tool for taking any photo, and it is also a free tool. When the photographer doesn't understand the principle of light cooperation, even buying an expensive flash won't help. Moreover, if you still think that you can take high-quality photos with a SLR camera and a good lens, this article is suitable for those who have realized that people who don't know light can't be good photographers.

1. Observe the change of natural light throughout the day. Pay attention to the photos above. The photo on the left was taken at dusk, the photo in the middle was taken at sunrise and the photo on the right was taken at noon. If you are not clear about these changes, you can read more about the characteristics of light in another article about sunlight. Knowing these attributes, the photographer can guess what time of day a particular scene will be more attractive, and shoot these scenes at the lighting time suitable for him.

2. There is no "bad" or "good" light. Many photographers think that light is "good" only during office hours (before sunset or after sunrise), but prefer to shoot only with this light. They think the noon sun is too bright to shoot. In fact, this method greatly limits creativity.

Because of the golden tone and soft transition, when it is necessary to convey the beautiful scenery of the shooting location or characters, the performance time in the scenic spot or plot is very appreciated. However, not all stories have such a meaning. The photo below is a good example.

What the photographer wants to convey is the working state of manual workers under the scorching sun.

3. Observe the light Whether the camera is at hand or not, observe the light.

Observe how lighting interacts with objects around you: dust, water, etc.

When you move from one place to another, pay attention to the contrast between light and dark.

Watch how famous photographers or your favorite writers use lighting in their works.

The more observation, the easier it is to identify specific lighting types during shooting and use. The reason why I can get the above photo is because the photographer knows the characteristics of light under such conditions. From this point of view, the combination of narrow light and smoke will produce picturesque light. Narrow light came in from the door, and the photographer emphasized this point even more, making the beam narrower.

4. Try to find a suitable composition for the scene or lighting. No matter how often you watch light and how much you learn from useful articles, you need to take pictures to understand how it works. Don't expect masterpieces in experiments-you just need to know how light behaves in practice. So, the following photo came true: I saw the backlight and noticed that the light also fell from behind him, illuminating people's faces. He took several frames with different exposure and achieved good results:

5. Considering the subsequent processing on the computer, no matter how expensive the camera is, not all scenes are suitable for its dynamic range. Photographers always have to sacrifice something, whether it's lights or shadows. In most cases, this kind of sacrifice can be easily compensated in the subsequent processing, so when shooting, please consider which ones in Photoshop or Lightroom can be adjusted and which ones can't be adjusted.

For example, the original picture above is obviously underexposed-people's faces and characters are very black. However, if the photographer exposes people, the sky will be overexposed and cannot be restored in the graphic editor. On the contrary, underexposed frames can be easily restored by the common "light/shadow" command in Lightroom, highlighting dark areas.

6. Waiting for the required lighting The simplest and most time-consuming way to control natural light is to wait for the correct lighting. You can wait for a few minutes (for example, let the sun come out from behind the clouds), hours (for example, sunrise or sunset), or even weeks (for example, change the weather conditions).

The above photo was obtained only because the photographer was observing the natural phenomena in the area and took part in the prepared shooting. At this time of the year, the morning is usually foggy before sunrise, but once the sun rises, the fog will disperse, so the most expressive shot can only be obtained in the first minute of sunrise. This is the moment the photographer is waiting for.

7. Use ambient light because the source of natural light is the sun, and it is impossible to spread natural light by yourself. This is why the easiest way to get diffused light is to control the position of the camera and the subject relative to the sun. For example, you can ask the model to enter the shadow (or rearrange the objects in the shadow)-the light scatters well in the shadow. The photo above was taken on a sunny day. The direct sunlight is dazzling and not suitable for this scene, so the photographer let the model enter the shadow of the house.

Reflectors and diffusers can be used to scatter light. The effect will be the same, and the reflector can always be kept at hand. To diffuse sunlight into the room, you just need to open the curtains.

Of course, it is impossible to scatter light to large objects such as tall buildings and mountains. In this case, just wait for natural diffusion, such as dark clouds or sunset.

8. Considering the direction of light in a similar way, you can control the direction of natural light when taking pictures-move and arrange the model relative to the light source (the sun or, for example, the window of a room) so that the light is evenly distributed.

This is a striking example of this control-in order to create an outline, the photographer stands in front of the light source so that the model is between the camera and the sun. Therefore, he received the backlight.

But the best thing is that there are many ways to guide the light, and they all depend on the position of the photographer and of course the position of the model. The following photo is another good example of the photographer's observation. Notice how the halo brightly illuminates the light around the elderly women and cows. In order to get such interesting light, the photographer shoots at a special angle-let the sunlight illuminate the objects behind him and shine slightly to the side. It is in this direction that he succeeded in creating an interesting bright spot.

The next frame shows the photographer's control over the direction of light in the room. The easiest way to create this scheme is to place the object near the light source (in this case, the doorway). The results can be very expressive, especially if the room is not very bright. In this lighting condition, an interesting transition from light to dark is observed, which adds extra space to the photo.

Of course, unlike people, mountains and other natural objects cannot move. So, like light scattering, we must wait for the necessary direction.

9. Try to reflect light. Light is reflected from different surfaces. The simplest method of directional reflection is to use a reflector (CD), so that the scattered light fades flat, and the photographer uses CD to make the image vivid.

Sunlight is reflected from the surface of an optical disc to an object. If the model is in the shadow, the light will be scattered, and the role of the reflector is the most obvious. The reflector can be natural. Almost all planes reflect light to one angle or another. Water, snow and even sand will have a particularly strong reflection effect.

10. Look for multiple light sources. This usually happens in a closed space. The light source is a door or a window.

In the above picture, people are in a backlight state (represented by halo), and at the same time, their faces are clearly visible. This is because one light source (window) is located behind the person and the other light source is located in front of the person (the door where he is located is not in the frame).

Under similar conditions, the following photos were taken. The main light source here is the window on the left side of the frame. It creates a transition from light color to dark color, making the model look big. The second light source is another window behind the photographer. Because the curtain is a curtain, the light will scatter to fill the light (slightly illuminate the shadow).

Conclusion At the end of this article, I want to remind you that natural lighting is just a tool. There is no need to finish, just taking pictures for the "beautiful" light. Light can only be used as the basis for creating stories. Of course, the best way to improve the professional level is to take as many photos as possible, and all the above technologies should be applied in practice.