NATURAL LIGHTING OUTDOORS
Lighting is the most important aspect of good photography. No matter how great the camera is, lighting can make or break the image. Images taken outdoors should be taken during the early hours of the day or late afternoon. This is because the sun during the mid day will be positioned directly overhead in the sky. This causes hard shadows on the subject you are shooting. The light is too harsh and intense. The result will be unflattering on the subject, details are lost.
This siltation works with a clear sky. Ideally we want overcast weather. In this type of weather we can shoot any time of the day. The clouds act as a natural diffuser “softening” the light and dispersing it so it does not directly hit the subject.
Using natural foliage can break up the light diffusing it and allow just the right amount of light to hit the right spots of the subject.
NATURAL LIGHTING INDOORS
Using natural light indoors is a bit different approach. As with outdoor natural lighting we are trying to minimize the light from the sun, with indoor natural lighting we are trying to increase it.
Open up as many windows to let light into the room. Or have the subject pose next to an open window. In the photo below we are using the ambient light in the room. We are supplementing that with a ring light. Relying completely on natural lighting indoors can be a challenge so I supplement that with a speed light or ring light.
ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING OUTDOORS
Here in the sunlight I am using a speed flash to fill in the shadows from the overcast sun. Regular speed lights will supplement the light from the sun. However some photographers will use a strobe with HSS or high speed sync. What this does is flash faster than 1/1000’s of a second. At this shutter speed enough sunlight or ambient light cannot get to the sensor of the camera and It replaces the sunlight with the artificial light. So essentially your are lighting just like in a studio. They will even bring a studio strobe outdoors on a battery to accomplish this.
That is one method however I prefer using regular speed lights and supplementing the sunlight with the artificial light. I use a speed light dome or a shoot through umbrella on my speed light.
NATURAL LIGHTING INDOORS
Using natural light indoors is a bit different approach. As with outdoor natural lighting we are trying to minimize the light from the sun, with indoor natural lighting we are trying to increase it.
Open up as many windows to let light into the room. Or have the subject pose next to an open window. We are using the ambient light in the room. We are supplementing that with a ring light. Relying completely on natural lighting indoors can be a challenge so I supplement that with a speed light or ring light.