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Are You Practicing these 5 Natural Lighting Tips?

A Post by Mitchell Kanashkevich – author of our eBook, Natural Light: Mastering a
Photographer’s Most Powerful Tool.

Natural light is the most important and powerful tool available to photographers, and
it is free to everybody in the world. Understanding how natural light works and how
to work with it e ectively is one of the key ways in which all of us can improve our
photography without spending more money on fancy photographic equipment. In
this blog post I’ve outlined ve tips which I believe to be most vital to improving the
way we work with natural light and in turn improving our photography.

Before getting to the tips I want to draw attention to one very important fact. We take
photos to communicate visually. With our photographs we aim to tell stories or to
convey a mood, an atmosphere—what it was like to be at a place or with a certain
person. This fact is very important to keep in mind because it helps us put everything
in perspective. It helps us realize that ultimately our use of natural light is nothing
more and nothing less than one of the means to communicate visually.

1. Be Aware that Characteristics of Natural Light

Change
The characteristics of natural light change due to the time of day, because of the
weather and due to various other circumstances. You can essentially say that there
are di erent kinds of light. The di erent kinds of light will make the same scene will
look quite di erent, as you can see in the photographs above, which were taken
during di erent times of day (left – twilight, middle – sunrise, right – middle of the
day).

To the photographer this means that if a scene doesn’t look the way you’d like it to
look at the time of day or in the weather you initially see it, you may have a chance to
capture it looking entirely di erent at another time, in another kind of light.
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2. Don’t Look at Natural Light in terms of “Good” or

“Bad”
Many of us are virtually indoctrinated with the idea that light during the golden-hour
is “good” or even the best kind of light to photograph in. The harsh light around
midday is generally considered to be the worst kind of light. In reality, this way of
looking at light can be very limiting creatively.

The golden-hour light makes everything look beautiful and magical because of its soft
and golden tinting qualities. The image above is a great example of the golden-hour
light beautifying a scene. But, what if we want to create an image which isn’t about
the beauty of a place or a person? Golden-hour light might not be appropriate in such
a situation.
The above image is a good example of when the harsh light around midday might be
the preferred kind of light. With this photograph I primarily wanted to communicate
what it’s like to be working in a harsh, sun-bleached environment. I wanted to say
something about the hardship of manual labor. If the image were shot during the
golden-hour, the scene may have been beauti ed and romanticized and the message
may have very possibly been lost. In the harsh midday light, the hard shadows and
the bleached colors helped me communicate exactly what I wanted to.

In conclusion my advice is to look at the di erent types of natural light as tools in a

tool-set. None of the “tools” are good or bad, just right or wrong for what you’re trying
to communicate.
3. Obsess with Observing Light

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Observe light in your everyday life—how it interacts with everything around you, with
particles of dust, water, observe how is changes when you move from place to place,
how it casts shadows. Observe how the photographers you respect use light in their
work. The aim is to educate yourself, to train your eyes to recognize di erent lighting
scenarios and eventually to be able to predict when some of the more elusive lighting
scenarios might occur.

The photograph above came to materialize because I had observed similar lighting
scenarios before. I knew that narrow light sources and smoke can create dramatic
looking light-beams, when the light illuminates the smoke at a certain angle. In this
situation the sun was setting, hence it was illuminating the smoke at just the right
angle for the “light-beam-e ect.” I had a narrow light source, the doorway, which I
was able to make even more narrow by asking my friend to block most of it, hence
accentuating the e ect.

4. Experiment and Photograph just for the Sake of

seeing how Everything will Translate Through the
View nder
No matter how much you observe natural light or how many tips you read about it, to
truly make the most of it photographically, you need to take photos.

Experimenting doesn’t necessarily lead to masterpieces, but it does help you

understand how light works in a very practical sense. With digital cameras there is
absolutely no reason to hold back frames. If you see an interesting lighting scenario
and you’re wondering how it would look in an image—photograph it! That’s exactly
what I did with the above frame. I saw that the scene was backlit, but at the same
time light was coming from behind me. The rst thought that entered my mind was “I
wonder how this might turn out?” I experimented, made a few exposures and ended
up with what I consider a strong image.
5. Expose with Post-Processing in Mind
No matter how good our cameras are, we will not be able to capture the entire tonal
range created by some of the more challenging lighting situations, without the aid of
post-processing software such as Adobe Lightroom.
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To make the most of such situations it’s important to expose in a way where you give
yourself a chance to capture maximum detail. This might mean under- or over-
exposing certain elements in a scene. Let me explain using an example.

You can see in the rst image above that the faces of the men are looking dark, they
are under-exposed. This is the image that came straight from the camera and my
decision to under-expose was very deliberate. Exposing properly for the faces would
result in extremely over-exposed clouds. In this case I would likely be unable to bring
out the detail in those over-exposed clouds and they would become large, white
blotches. On the other hand I knew that I could brighten the faces of the men and
bring out the necessary details in Lightroom with a simple tweak of the Fill
Light/Shadows slider.

Exposing with post-processing in mind is a bit of a mental battle. You constantly have
to ask yourself: Which element is more important to the image? What are the details
which I can a ord to lose and which are those which I can’t? Ultimately there might be
situations where details cannot be preserved by under- or over-exposing and until the
photographic technology gets better, that is just something we have to live with.

Some Final Words

As I already mentioned, no matter how much we read about photography, to become
a better photographer—nothing beats actually making photos. The best way of
improving and bettering your understanding of natural light is to keep the above
mentioned tips in mind and to photograph as much as you can, in as many di erent
lighting scenarios as possible.

Learn more about how to see and utilize Natural Light in your photography with Mitchell’s
eBook Natural Light: Mastering a Photographer’s Most Powerful Tool.
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bv
− ⚑
4 years ago
the light should not "matter" to the extent it does in some minds. It should never be used as an excuse not to
shoot. If you have to shoot in order to learn instead of producing photographs, so be it. Both still have
purpose.

With natural light you are shooting to show what is there. If you are adding artificial sources, then it's just
that your purpose is different. You are making it into something you want to shoot. Both have purpose.

One of my better shots from the middle of an afternoon. Camera placed in the shade......
⛺ View

2△ ▽ Reply

DHM
− ⚑
4 years ago
I'm not usually a fan of articles written along the lines of "5 tips for", but I liked this one. And really enjoyed
the bit about using mid-day light as well. Usually you will hear people repeating "golden hour" mantra. Some
time ago I've made a point of not shooting during golden hour and I consider the images I created then one
of the best architecture shots I did so far. That was certainly a great experiment for me and also a proof that
thinking outside the box pays back
thinking outside the box pays back.
2△ ▽ Reply

Feenix
− ⚑
4 years ago
I was driving by this location looking for something to shoot when I saw the setting sun pick out this tree. I
stopped and jumped out of the car just in time to get this shot. The light was gone about a minute later if not
less.
⛺ View

⛺ View

1△ ▽ Reply

Edward Millership
− ⚑
4 years ago
Don't just look for light, look for shadows too, individually they make boring pictures, combine them to create
fantansic captures. And shoot RAW
1△ ▽ Reply

Adorama Ir
− ⚑
2 years ago

photography is about lighting. My favorite way of lighting is backlighting and I'm really trying to learn
different methods to help me with my career. thanks for this great tips about natural lighting.
http://adorama.ir
△ ▽ Reply

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Some Older Comments

davidtolstoy4
June 29, 2013 08:10 pm

Nice Article.. I always used to think that pictures are blown out when you are
shooting a landscape in harsh light .. Sometimes you dont have a choice when
you cant
a ord to spend more time at a place and are racing against time..

davidtolstoy4
June 29, 2013 08:08 pm
 hello friends!!! Photography's most basic lighting option, the sun, is also one of
the most versatile. It can be bright and hard or dim and soft. It can be warm and
highly directional, casting long shadows. Or, behind clouds, its light can be blue,
di use, and shadow-free. As it crosses the sky, the sun serves as a front-, side-,
back-, and/or hair-light.

Lois Bryan
September 14, 2012 12:06 pm

All excellent words of photographic wisdom!!!!! thank you!!

Roel Paulme
September 12, 2012 12:49 am

As a beginner, will work on the points discussed here. Great article!

Paul
May 3, 2012 07:28 pm

Nice article, I'm a fan of natural light. Interesting though, in example 5 I actually
preferred the shot which was underexposed, has more 'depth' to it (in my
humble opinion)? You can go too far to remove tonal contrsts, that's why I'm not
a fand of HDR techniques.

Sam Docker
May 1, 2012 05:40 pm

A great article, couldn't agree more on point number 2. The amount of

photographers who say they don't like bright sun light and would rather shoot in
cloudy conditions I nd astounding, granted, bright light can bleach out certain
areas, but it equally creates amazing contrast and shadows that can really make
an image pop.
Maahir Zaveri
May 1, 2012 05:18 pm

My mum and pup..the sunlight coming in from the right highlighted the right
parts of the photograph !

gipukan
April 30, 2012 05:36 am

http://www. ickr.com/photos/gipukan/7125507881/in/photostream

gipukan
April 30, 2012 05:36 am

My girls with the sun coming through the window. 2 ashes made the wall go
seamless white. The window is at their back. Great tips again Daren!

F.Zaman
April 29, 2012 09:14 pm

thanks,it is new to me 'to under expose the photograph and to correct it at post-
processing software'

OnyxE
April 29, 2012 08:50 am

I usually carry my camera with me and just shoot what I see at whatever time it is
without thinking about the lighting, but it is always natural because I don't use a as
Then I look at the photo and then I see what e ect particular lighting had on the
photo. I guess if I was a highly motivated and/or professional I'd have to think more
about the lighting before I took the photo.
http://www. ickr.com/photos/marionlynne777/6947639572/in/photostream/lightbo
Marco
April 29, 2012 07:32 am

For some types of photography, golden hours are best without a doubt but
other types must be shot when they are happening. I shoot mostly raptors and
the eagles decide when to sh so they dictate the light I have to work with. I can
get there before rst light but if the subject does not show up until three hours
later, what can I do but shoot them in the available light and work on them in
post? I think many of the articles on golden hours and blue twilight are simply
pointing out that if you sleep through them, you are missing out on what might
be a great opportunity. But as you say, they are not the only opportunity. If you
are doing nothing but landscapes you might be best to get the golden hours and
go home, but other types of photography are not as limited and people would
do well to bend those rules. One other thing I have found is that if you are
limited on lenses, like say a 400mm f/5.6 lens, you are going to ght the shadows
at rst light and sunrise. You might even have focusing problems for lack of light.
In those cases, shifting a few hours beyond sunrise can really help your shots.

guillermo de la maza
April 29, 2012 03:44 am

Great tips!
Another thing that has worked for me, is to consider bracketing your exposures
(with inanimate objects works better) in order to obtain the best color contrast
and tonal range from natural light.
I took this shot: http://500px.com/photo/5894607 while witnessing an
espectacular sunset going around above me. First, I tried shooting exposing for
the sky, but this almost obscured the building with no possibilities of much post
processing. So then I decided to take an intermediate exposure and to
overexpose the sky. I ended-up with some 5 or 6 images total, but after doing
some HDR blending on them, I think it was all worthwhile!
Sachin Verma
April 28, 2012 10:36 pm

Good tips!!!
I don' prefer post processing of photos.
here is one unaltered photo shot in natural light
http://www.photo-roll.com/the-virtual-sun/

Gustavo J. Mata
April 28, 2012 11:01 am

I built an exercise out of "Obsess with Observing Light" and "Experiment and
Photograph just for the Sake of seeing how Everything will Translate Through the
View nder".
A 3.12MP mobile camera at hand, I went out for a walk around 3pm, into the
glare of our tropical sun. Out of 50 photographs I thought the following 3 worth
keeping.
http://bit.ly/Jggo3n
Gustavo J. Mata

HAMISU ABUBAKAR
April 28, 2012 09:00 am

Even at sun set, natural light is the best.

DG
April 28, 2012 08:00 am

I really appreciate the tips! Lighting really is one of the most important aspects of
photography. You have inspired me to experiment some more! : )

Joe
April 28, 2012 03:49 am

I've always liked they way light travels through water and glass
http://www. ickr.com/photos/joetuna/6973017054/

Tom Savage
April 28, 2012 02:18 am

The time of day examples are really amazingly di erent. It really puts it in
perspective when you see more or less the same shot at di erent times of the
day. I often think "This would look a lot nicer a few hours from now." but I
seldom go back. These examples provide a more motivation to try di erent
times of day.

Mikhail Anand
April 28, 2012 01:35 am

all natural light always!! into cinematography so have always had an obsession
for light.
http://mikhailanand.wordpress.com/

Phil Walker
April 27, 2012 11:56 pm

Really liked this article on lighting. Unfortunately we sometimes don't get really
great lighting in Scotland. Two extremes..rain or more rain. However the weather
here can produce a very even lighting without too many extremes. Certain that
your article will come in handy one day so keeping a good look out for that
opportunity. Phil Walker, Perth Spotland

Jerry
April 27, 2012 11:13 pm
 Thanks for your insight and experience. You have helped clearly articulate many
of the things that I have thought about over the years. I have always preferred
natural light and rarely use a ash. I do not use Photoshop or any other editing
software, and so I also look for lighting that I like and compose the photo
accordingly. Sometimes less is more.

Fuzzypiggy
April 27, 2012 10:08 pm

One of the best articles in ages!

So many times I gone to places, it's been awful and I've returned later in the day
or next morning the light has been in nitely better. I can never understand why
people climb out of bed at 9am and then turn up to a scene and complain the
image results are all bland and no character! Get up before dawn ( or a hour
before dusk if you like) , arrive at the scene early and study the light as it
changes, suss out how you think the scene will change as the light changes. The
more scenes and lighting conditions you watch and study the easier it is to suss
out how a particular scene will play out. There really aren't that many di erent
types of weather and light interplay scenarios but understanding how they work
under certain conditions makes you 10 times more prepared to snatch that one-
in-a-million shot.

Darryl
April 27, 2012 04:04 pm

Thank you so much for the eye opener - I have been getting a bit obsessed with
the golden hours.

Draku Zeos
April 27, 2012 02:47 pm

All excellent points. Great summary.

Alex
April 27, 2012 02:24 pm

Excellent article...best I've read all week :)

Jaspal
April 27, 2012 02:22 pm

Thanks for the tips on using natural lights.

Kishan
April 27, 2012 01:46 pm

Nice Article.. I always used to think that pictures are blown out when you are
shooting a landscape in harsh light .. Sometimes you dont have a choice when you
cant a ord to spend more time at a place and are racing against time..
Post-processing indeed helps to a certain extent
I took the picture below in a very harsh backlit situation. However, I was surprised
with the result that came out thanks to Light room.. I know it could have looked
better, but it was much better than the original one ..
http://www. ickr.com/photos/76601665@N00/6422804815/in/photostream/lightbox

Grace
April 27, 2012 01:06 pm

I love natural light! I love the harsh white light of mid-day when it streams
through the window for my food shots. Food is very photogenic...

imamtho
April 27, 2012 12:29 pm
 excellent article and great photos...
yeah i did it...as mentioned at point #4. the following photograph was taken at
noon in di erent light conditions are very high. I did a bit of post processing to
illuminate the rock under the shadow.
http://www. ickr.com/photos/imamtho/6920331704/

raghavendra
April 27, 2012 12:26 pm

I don't do post processing

here is a picture taken with natural light
http://raghavendra-mobilephotography.blogspot.com/2012/01/colors-of-
nature.html

Jim
April 27, 2012 11:52 am

I guess you could say that I am obsessed with trying to get it right with my
camera, so I'll probably wear out my shutter faster then I want to. Looking at an
image on my cameras LCD, I never think about what I can make better in Post,
but then when I do download I still see room for improvement, but I try harder
the next time out cause I am NOT obsessed with sittiing at my computer when I
can do better with my camera.

Brian Phillips
April 27, 2012 11:28 am

The last tip is one that I hadn't really considered too much until this last
weekend. I was taking some photos at a bicycle race and was able to walk all
around the course, so I had my choice of there to take most of my shots,
depending on the available sunlight. There was one section where the sun was
behind the riders, so as I took shots of them coming at me, I knew they would
 mostly be in the shadows. For that reason, I avoided taking very many shots
from that viewpoint. Later, when I processed them in Lightroom, I was able to
turn lousy images into pretty good ones by increasing the ll light. Fortunately
my 7D is a pretty good camera and it still captured a lot of the details in the
shadows. I'm relatively new to Lightroom, so I was amazed at the dramatic
improvement I was able to get with a quick adjustment. Now I won't be avoiding
so many backlit scenes like that one.

Lucian
April 27, 2012 11:12 am

Great article, thank you!!

Mei Teng
April 27, 2012 10:43 am

I want to add that point #4 is a good tip. I share your thoughts on experimenting,
not holding back..just to see what it would look like in an image. You get
surprisingly great results sometimes.

Mei Teng
April 27, 2012 10:36 am

Good mention on point #2. I am one of those guilty of thinking that harsh mid
day light is bad.

Abe
April 27, 2012 10:26 am

Fantastic article. Great tips not talked about enough

Esteban Lussich
April 27, 2012 10:04 am

Great article. I remember doing some outdoor shooting for a band, in the
woods, at dawn. when we got to the desired spot, it was so cloudy that the
photos got crappy. we had to get up early again next day!

Bharat Justa
April 27, 2012 09:31 am

Great tips!
I was a person who never thought about lightning!
But after reading a few similar articles about lightning, I started to think about
the e ects of natural lightning on my photos. I usually do post processing, but
sometimes just keeping the natural look of a photo is a better option.
http://www.photo-roll.com/

Javo
April 27, 2012 09:15 am

Great article!
One question regarding "shooting with post-processing in mind". I was once told
by a very experienced photographer (although mostly motion picture
photography) that a good rule of thumb is that it is better to over-expose than to
under-expose, because post-processing techniques are much more e ective
recovering details from the white end of the spectrum.
I was wondering if this is still a valid rule, when using tools such as Lightroom.

Scottc
April 27, 2012 09:10 am

Great, exemplary, photos and some nice reminders on the best of light.
So true, there really is no "bad" light.
 http://www. ickr.com/photos/lendog64/5866535116/

janetkeen
April 27, 2012 08:37 am

Really felt this article was useful thanks a lot.

Brooke McGlothlin (@BrookeWrites)

April 27, 2012 08:20 am

This is so good! I'm working hard to really SEE the light that surrounds me. I'm a
work-at-home mom, so I've been trying to look at how the house looks at
di erent times of the day. I'm having so much fun and can't wait to dig in to your
book!

Elizabeth
April 27, 2012 05:04 am

Great Article! I also love working with natural light. Sometimes it is hard though
when the sun here is so bright. Check out my pictures at Disney Hollywood
Studios in the Bright Florida Sunshine and the Tower of Terror.
http://funmommie.blogspot.com/2012/04/tower-of-terror-cupcakes-and-
downtown.html
http://www.explore-disney-resorts.com/disney-pin-trading.html

steve slater
April 27, 2012 04:56 am

If you travel a lot sometimes you do not have the choice of when to photograph
but just have to seize the moment when you come across something on your
travels that deserves a shot.
 I often nd myself at a location in the middle of the day and in a sunny climate.
As in this example. The light was harsh - everything was re ecting blue from the
azure Mediterannean but the shot was there so I took it and then calmed it
down during post processing.
http://wildlifeencounters.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Scenes-of-
France/G0000BzQXTlspD3c/I0000OWpuLDB1dZo
Not perfect but still worth the e ort.

EnergizedAV
April 27, 2012 03:46 am

About a week ago my wife and I were on a photographic journey in the woods.
While there, I saw some things I wanted to comeback for. It was mid afternoon.
Two days later we went back in the morning and I just could not nd what I was
looking for. It was if we were in a completely di erent place.
So true, Darren, so true. Thanks

alex
April 27, 2012 03:45 am

Nice points.
Any comments for dealing with low, hazy light situations? I always nd the
results to be more dull than I would hope.

Je E Jensen
April 27, 2012 03:30 am

Excellent tips, Mitchell! It is amazing to me to realize how much I pay attention to

light, even when I don't have a camera in my hand. Four years ago, was a
di erent story.
I particularly appreciate #3. At times, I can be very obsessed with light. #2 is a
great reminder. Any light is good light, it's just a matter of knowing how to work
 with what you have, this is an area that I am still working on.
I had te accidental opportunity to shoot some amazing sunset images a few
months ago. I love the progression of light in these images:
http://blog.je ejensenphotography.com/2011/09/yoga.html

Alexx
April 27, 2012 01:59 am

I always love to work with natural light.

Check out some of my works here:
http://disney-photography-blog.com/

Mridula
April 27, 2012 01:36 am

I have to let go of obsessing with good light! I sulk and sulk when I get to shoot
under under harsh light.
http://blogs.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/2008/05/make-a-
suggestion.html

Patrick
April 27, 2012 12:50 am

Great tips Darren! I think the 4th point is one of the most important. The one
true way to learn how light translates to the camera is to simply take photos and
experiment. I currently do wedding and portrait photography and I made sure I
knew what I was doing regarding light and exposure before I started charging
people for my services. Each photo I take I am always aware of where the light is
coming from and what would happen if I moved around to a di erent angle.

Jean-Pierre
April 27, 2012 12:50 am
 ** 'wasn't' at the golden hour **

Jean-Pierre
April 27, 2012 12:49 am

I'm de nitely working on all of the above, especially experimenting with di erent
times of day. After a week of waiting for the light to be just right, and just right
was at the Golden Hour or with everything lit the 'right' way. I came out with a
pretty decent photo, IMO of course!
http://www. ickr.com/photos/45517597@N07/6878992216/
Thanks for tips!

matej slezak photography

April 27, 2012 12:41 am

great article, thanks.

expose with post-processing in mind is one of the greatest advices ever. here's
an example..
http://on.fb.me/IQzb80

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