Natural light portrait photography demands a nuanced understanding of how light interacts with the environment. By learning to read and work with available light, you can transform challenging conditions into opportunities for creating captivating portraits that stand out from the crowd.
Coming to you from Martin Castein, this practical video explores the fundamentals of working with natural light in urban and natural settings. For example, instead of positioning subjects with direct backlighting, Castein demonstrates how placing them at 45 or 60-degree angles to the light source creates a more balanced effect. This technique maintains the appealing rim light while preserving background detail and reducing unwanted flare. The approach gives you greater control over the final image and helps maintain consistency across a shoot, especially in changing conditions. Working with indirect light also allows for more flexible positioning and easier exposure management.
Open shade presents one of the most versatile lighting scenarios for portrait work, offering soft, even illumination that flatters your subjects. When shooting in open shade, you'll need to consider the surrounding environment's impact on your lighting. Building materials, grass, and nearby structures can reflect light and create color casts on your subject's skin. While these effects are often minimal, understanding how to identify and work around potential color contamination will elevate your results. Castein shares specific strategies for managing these challenges, including optimal subject placement and timing considerations throughout different seasons.
The relationship between architectural elements and natural light creates unique opportunities for dramatic portraits. By learning to identify how overhangs, tunnels, and other structures shape and direct available light, you can find perfect lighting conditions in seemingly ordinary locations. Urban environments offer particularly interesting possibilities, where artificial lighting can be incorporated as both illumination source and visual element. The interplay between different light sources adds depth and dimension to your images, creating more engaging portraits. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Castein.
Good advice, I started my career shooting Fashion and Lifestyle images and found most of my locations by simply looking for beautiful light and interesting backgrounds.