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What is natural light? It’s my favourite type of light for many portraits, and the opportunities are endless. With a little theoretical and practical know-how, in combination with some inspiration and a dash of vision you can create the photographs of your dreams with nothing more than a camera and someone to capture! In this article I will cover: Types of natural light, some natural light photographers well worth following and learning from, and a few of the basic natural light setups with instructions. Finally, I’ll cover the dos and don’ts of working with natural light along with the most important tips and tricks. This is a big one, with a glamorous set of images to match so enjoy!

If you haven’t already read my first article in this series of The Photo Studio, you can check it out here in Part One: Equipment ♡

The Photo Studio | Part Two: Natural Light

Above - Flatlight or even light in this portrait across my face and body produces a rich lush tone and colours.

Location: The Indian Char Bagh Garden | The Hamilton Gardens

This tutorial covers the basics of lighting at a location that couldn’t be more perfect for demonstrating the types of natural light in action: The Hamilton Gardens, The Indian Char Bagh Garden. I have been wanting to photograph here for some time, and in late spring these flowers are at their peak in seas of colour beneath the elegant earthy toned walls of this unique garden design. If you haven’t been to visit the Hamilton Gardens yet then you must this spring/summer! Go off-peak and avoid weekends for maximum enjoyment and minimum crowds. I cover a few articles photographed at the Hamilton gardens, such as my fantastic experience at the Rose Festival in the Rogers Rose Garden here.

What is Natural Light?

Natural light is another term for available light, light that isn’t created through the use of artificial lights, and isn’t added to the photograph but utilised from the natural setting. Contrary to popular belief natural light does not necessarily mean outdoor locations, it can be also indoor locations using natural light from windows, doors, or reflected from outside. The key with natural light is to 1. identify what type/s you are dealing with in your image before you start and often there are more than one, 2. have a vision or plan for how to work with not against your setup, and 3. Respond with the correct technical settings using your camera, keeping in mind your post-production or editing plans after shooting. I will go into all of this and more, below!

Types of Natural Light | Three Basic Types: Explained

Natural light is available light, and available light generally originates from the sun, or daylight. However this light changes and is affected by the objects and colours in the environment it touches. Keeping in mind that the extent of this detail can be huge and within a single picture there can be many different types of natural light, for simplicity’s sake I will break it down into the three most obvious, simple and effective methods of natural lighting for portraits and bloggers: Flatlight, Backlight and Direct Light.

Flatlight - Flat light, otherwise known as even light is a type of lighting scenario that can be scouted out or patiently waited on! By this I am referring to the weather. During cloudy days the sun is diffused or softened by the thick cloud cover, resulting in a natural sort of ‘softbox’ and creating an even, flattering light across everything. Minimising harsh shadows, glare, and emphasising bright rich colours. This is the number one type of natural light I recommend you start with, and the easiest one to work with for effective results.
Backlight - Backlight is light that comes from behind the subject of your photograph, and although seemingly is self explanatory, it can create a variety of results when used with purpose. It can create an ‘angel halo’ around the edges of your subject, or depending on the direction and strength of the backlight it can be an effective method of natural skin retouching or commonly known as ‘air brushing’ as the hazy light in portraits can help to effectively reduce and minimise the appearance of pores and wrinkles. Backlight can be a fantastic way of removing offensive objects in the background, and creating interest, an aesthetic appeal such as a romantic feel, or tonal contrast in an image. Looking to create beautiful sunlit evening glowing photographs? This is your light that you need to wait for, and the best times are at the beginning and the end of each day during what photographer’s refer to as ‘The Golden Hour' or the hour approaching sunset.
Direct Light - Direct light is another term for what you may see as ‘harsh’ or contrasting light, with a strong light source that results in punchy highlights and dark shadows. Creating portraits in this light is generally more creative than traditional, and the most challenging type of light to work with. Common problems people encounter with this type of light, most frequently seen in full sun at midday, include difficulty for the model/s such as blinking, squinting, or watery eyes, which results in difficulty posing, blown or overexposed highlights/shadows, and a reduction in richness of colour and less bokeh in the depth of field with the camera’s automatic settings often producing a smaller aperture and more of the image in perfect focus. These challenges I will address below!

Above - A backlit portrait taken at the Hamilton Gardens, utilising the additional reflected neutral coloured light from the tiles below.

Natural Light Photographers in New Zealand | Five Artists to Watch

Below I have made a list of four New Zealand photographers I admire greatly, both their creative and technical skill and aesthetic style. I’ve written a little bit about what they specialise in and where to find them along with my portrait photography links.

My portrait photography business - The Undefined Photography [Of course!]
Marina De Witt - Fine Art Photographer {Photographs nature and animals] I love her soft, dreamy photographs that are exquisitely and delicately captured.
Rach Stewart Photography - Landscape Photographer [Fine Art Photographer] Her landscape and nature photography will blow you away, it’s dynamic, vibrant and effortlessly photographed. She makes it look easy! [It’s not!]
Mike Hollman - Commercial Photographer [Architecture, Landscapes and Nature] Mike is one of the most well known veterans of the photography industry, and a hardworking, talented and humble artist I have always admired.
Karen Ishiguro - Commercial Fashion Photographer [People, Portraits, and Products] Karen’s work has always inspired me, she is consistently creating unique work on the cutting edge of fashion and beauty.

Above - Backlight from the sun outside creates a slight ‘angel halo’ around the subject’s outline. The subject’s face and body is in even light from the shelter this garden structure provides at the Hamilton Gardens.

How to Instructions | Three Natural Light Setups

Flat Light Setup - There are a few options for this lighting setup, one is to photograph on a cloudy day, and wait for the right weather, when there are no or very small shadows. To know when the timing is right, watch the ground - when the shadows disappear you are good to go! This type of lighting is easy to identify especially if you are starting out, and is one that many photographers favour regardless of their skill level as it can produce some of the best results with little difficulty. Another option to create this setup is to look for shade, large buildings or trees can provide this. Be careful with large canopies of trees though as they can often throw large amount of green into your portraits which can be very unflattering!
Backlight Setup - The end of the day is the easiest way to find excellent backlight. As the sun moves through the sky throughout the day, during the middle of the day it is high above us and so does not come down low enough to produce the long shadows and shine through or around objects the way it does at the beginning or the end of the day. For soft, hazy, romantic images and sunset hero shots wait for the first or last hour of the day, and position your camera lower down, with the sun directly behind your subject. This will give them a beautiful angel halo!
Direct Light Setup - This one is easy to find but difficult to work with. The middle of the day is best for the most direct light, creating strong shadows and bright highlights. As in the image below, I worked this harsh light into my pose, keeping my eyes closed in a relaxed way in order to avoid squinting or blinking. You can also have your model look away, look down, or use their outfit to pose with - such as a hat, umbrella, coat, or other accessory. This way you can keep the feeling natural whilst shooting in the brightest daylight. For best results with this method, have the light directly onto the model, and the sun in front of them or slightly to the side for moody contrasting portraits. Black and white works particularly well for this look!

Above - Direct Light on the subject creating bright highlights and contrasting shadows, one of the more difficult methods to master.

Do’s and Dont’s of Natural Light

Tips and Tricks

DO plan, plan, plan! Utilising natural light is all about [planning for your setup and situation. Scout your location in advance, and note the sun position, the colours being thrown if any, and potential obstacles to shooting. DON’T try too many tricks at once. Keep your lighting setups simple and play with one lighting setup at a time until you are confident to experiment with more adventurous ones.
DO photograph during the golden hour if possible. This time of day it is often easier to create the exact look and lighting you desire. DON’T use fill flash. Just don’t. It’s ugly. Learn to work with the lighting you have.
DO bring a reflector! The bigger the better. You can use this for all sorts of purposes and having a good double sided silver one is extremely helpful for both blocking and reflecting (filling in shadows or dark spots). DON’T play with too much equipment at once. If you get a new lens, play around with that lens in basic lighting setups before moving on to adding other equipment in the mix. Photography is all about creating a solid vision from a simple solid foundation of technique. Think like a cake, layer, layer, layer.