Natural Light Photography

Shooting in cities at night can be tricky, but can yield incredible results. Here are 5 tips from Pierre T. Lambert for getting the shot.

KCET’s “Lost LA” does deep dives into the lesser-known history of Southern California. In a recent episode, photography takes center stage as they tell the story behind some of the most famous images from one of the darkest chapters in American history.

The Canon EOS R gained Sony-like AI Servo Eye AF with a firmware update earlier in the year, and now, photographer Manny Ortiz takes a look at how it performs. The short answer is that it’s definitely way better, and he says as much, but the real reason to watch the video is to see Ortiz in action on a portrait shoot. It’s fascinating.

Despite Instagram being dominated by beautiful, airy, bokeh ball-laden images of people looking happy, sometimes you just want to create something a bit darker. In this short video, Mango Street give you some basic tips for shooting indoors using natural light to achieve a moodier, more somber look to your photographs.

While a ton of strobes and modifiers might be ideal for creating striking shots, it’s often best to shoot boudoir imagery using natural light to make things flow and keep your model at ease. Experienced boudoir photographer Michael Sasser offers three great tips for using natural light to capture stunning images.

A few days, ago we published three anonymous pictures and asked you to vote on your favorite. Now, you can watch the entire challenge and see who the winner was. 

When your only strobe dies on location, you'd better be prepared.

Many photographers love to shoot natural light portraits for a variety of reasons, and with them come their own sets of challenges. This awesome video will give lots of tips to shoot better and more creative natural light portraits.

I usually use natural light as my go-to for quick group photos or for portraits that need to be done very quickly or with very little gear. That doesn’t mean you can’t shape or control natural light to create studio quality images wherever you are. Here’s three easy ways to shape natural light for your next portrait shoot.

Michael Sasser has shared what he calls his most valuable video on his channel to date. Working with 100 percent natural light, he decided to make this video to help other boudoir photographers understand the importance of lighting. 

Sometimes it’s fun to set yourself a challenge, maybe shooting with limited gear or with a very quick turnaround. On this occasion, I had no choice. The shoot was conceived and captured in under fifteen minutes, and the images were edited and submitted less than half an hour later. Here’s how it came about.

The shoot done by photographer Ana Dias is a Playmate of the Month pictorial for Playboy US (Miss March 2019). The model is named Miki Hamano, and she comes from Japan. The whole photoshoot was done in a modern villa in Malibu, California.

I shot these images for fashion ecommerce store Zilingo when we were doing a recent campaign/catalog shoot. What a fun team to shoot with! They really have a vision for what they want to pull off and are very supportive in terms of getting there. 

Are you thinking of trying out portrait photography and want to get some insight as to exactly what you need to create beautiful portraits without a lot of trial and error? Read on for some tried and true suggestions that will get you started without all the hit-and-miss experimentation.

It’s amazing what mid or entry-level hardware can deliver when you pair it with great software. The best software will be able to make up for some of the weaknesses and exploit every ounce of its strengths – ideally with relative ease. That's what we'll see here with Capture One's Luma Range tool.

I recently heard about three Puerto Rican photographers who would go out and shoot casually as friends. But, what made them unique was that these three photographers specialized in three completely different genres of photography. 

"I'm a natural light photographer. I don't shoot with artificial lights. I don't like the look of strobe-lit portraits." That's fine, but why are your post-processed images look so unnatural?

One of the best light sources is the sun, but when you go indoors you are limited to where the light is depending on windows or openings that allow it to seep in. Using the light from that window can be fairly easy, but how do you achieve a good shot with the window in portrait shots?

Last week Lee Morris and I embarked on something I like to call "The Puerto Rican landscape challenge." The goal of this series is to not only showcase some of the most beautiful locations on the island of Puerto Rico, but to also find out, once and for all, who is the better landscape photographer. Today is the beginning of this ultimate challenge.

There are several reasons why I am an unabashedly massive fan of SmugMug Films, the docu-series produced by the eponymous SmugMug.

Photographer Magic Owen was offered the opportunity by HUNGER Magazine to set her own brief for a shoot at the gorgeous venue, Castle Ashby. Having been given the chance to shoot in a location that magical with such creative freedom, Owen decided to create a modernized Wonderland style shoot.

I shoot for a clothing boutique and we shoot outside at the same area weekly. To say I have overused the available locations is an understatement. Sometimes I find myself on the side of the road, next to a rundown building I’ve shot at 20 times already, and think to myself, how in the world can I make this different? I’ll bet most of us have been there at some point.

Shooting portraits in natural light typically means choosing a huge aperture to create creamy bokeh and pleasing subject separation, but keeping your image pin sharp in the right places can be tough. In this short video, photographer Julia Trotti shares her tips on how to nail focus.

If you rely heavily on HDR for your image processing, I have some news for you: It can be a lazy approach, and you may be using it in the wrong applications. It's time to learn about the limitations of HDR and far better alternatives at your disposal.

I always love when I get a few days to get caught up on all my YouTube subscriptions and watch what other photographers are creating. One of the photographers I always look forward to seeing new content from is Detroit-based fashion and lifestyle photographer, Jessica Kobessi. 

Los Angeles-based photographers Flannery Underwood and Jon Brandon Cruz have created a joint YouTube channel under the name Black & Ginger. The duo's first video on the channel was a Lens Challenge featuring Detroit-based photographer Jessica Kobeissi and NYC-photographer Brandon Woelfel. 

How many times have you snapped a beautiful scene, only to be disappointed when your images don’t adequately represent the reality? Though the camera’s images sometimes fall short, have no fear, because bracketing is here.

Lifestyle photographer Denise Crew was approached by the producers of Netflix’s Queer Eye about a book they were producing that had a very quick turn-around.  It typically takes 18 months to publish a book from start to finish and they needed to do this book in 6 months.

The mall, removed. The cheesy decor, gone. The long lines, nope. Santa Sessions have become all-the-rage and photographers are making these shoots more of a high end experience. I witnessed a shoot first hand and to be honest, $10k seems to be just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s what I learned.

Don't have thousands to spend on lighting gear? One of the most valuable lighting methods you could find out there also happens to be the cheapest: a window. The best part about it, is that it is free!

When you look at the work of William Allard, David Harvey, or especially Alex Webb, you quickly notice what makes their photos so amazing is not just the lovely compositions and stunning moments, but an often dazzling use of natural light. What do they all have in common and how can we learn from them?

As fall draws to a close and we head into the colder winter months, the scenery around us shifts for the season. If there is something that you'll miss the most from the warmer weather, what would it be?

Every coin has two sides, and today, we're going to take a look at the natural light side of the lighting conversation. Here are seven different reasons why I think that natural lighting for portraits is pretty damn rad when compared with using flash.

Merrell, an outdoor footwear brand, wanted a photography concept that would celebrate diversity on trails, but in a way that felt genuine and reflected reality. While outdoor brands usually look towards more of a traditional commercial photography approach, Tim Kemple had something else in mind to achieve their goals.

All it takes to create a dreamy fairy tale photograph is a great location and a lovely subject. In this video you will see different ways you can photograph a beautiful girl in a boat.

A chilly September morning. The crispness in the air added weight to the solemn moment. My composition was all figured out. I patiently waited for the final elements to come into place.

A few words of wisdom from one the best cinematographers working in Hollywood today.

There are various reasons why the golden hours are the best times of day to shoot. But to just dismiss regular daylight hours out of hand is just silly. Because daylight can be beautiful too.

This past weekend in Colorado I decided to give my full frame mirrorless camera a break and shoot some portraits using the much smaller Sony RX100V. I was curious to see if a small, pocket-sized camera could give me the kind of results that I would be happy with. Here are my experience and recommendations if you choose to do the same!

Sometimes it takes a deeper look at a master to bring us back to basics.

A rare sight was captured at the Jersey Shore this week. When photographer Jon Entwhistle saw a peculiar sight, he aimed his camera to the heavens and virality ensued.

Of the many lighting techniques available to us as portrait photographers, using backlight with a simple reflector is one of the most versatile and least expensive methods you can choose. This method is widely used outdoors, but did you know that you can apply the same strategy to studio portraits?

We're heading into the realm of storybook fantasy with this week's Lighting Breakdown that blends natural and artificial light.

For most people who know the name Edvard Munch, there’s an immediate association with his iconic painting, "The Scream.” This artist, fabled for his emotionally impactful painting, is not known for his photographs, but his lens-based work will soon be available for fans of art and photography.

It won’t be for everyone, but I think it’s something everyone should try at some point: shooting in black and white (monochrome) mode in camera. 

The natural, backlit look is a highly popular style among wedding and portrait photographers that many clients are quite fond of. This great tutorial will give you some helpful tips for taking better backlit portraits. 

Golden hour is the holy grail of times for photographers of almost all genres; whether you're taking a landscape in Iceland or a fitness portrait, early and late sun is the most flattering. However, it can also be the most challenging.

On the lookout for some portrait tips and techniques? Well look no further, sit back and check out this well paced, information packed presentation on just that.

I have been visiting the surrounding areas of Mt. Fuji for the last ten years and here are my five best landscape locations.

Getting amazing shots of lightning storms often takes a lot of planning, patience, and long exposure equipment. Photographers who apply these techniques are like photographic storm chasers improving their odds of getting the best possible image at a specific location. But what if you just happen to get caught in a lightning storm while out shooting and you're not prepared?