A well-composed photograph includes the synthesis of multiple elements, including artistic nuance, linear orientation, perspective, and proper depth of field. However, all these elements are secondary to the most crucial one, light. No matter whether the photographer uses natural light of the sun or derives lighting from artificial equipment, they have to maintain a proper approach towards smartly using light for their photography. Most renowned industry professionals, such as Bruce Weber Photographer, are well-acquainted with both indoor and outdoor lighting approaches. Even though Bruce is primarily known as a fashion and fine arts photographer, he has a deep love for pet photography as well.
Bruce Weber Photographer shares a few advantages of natural light photography
Both amateur and professional photographers like natural light photography owing to its many advantages. Firstly, it is an inexpensive lighting technique. There is no need to purchase artificial light sources in this approach. Secondly, natural light does offer quite a bit of variety. Photos clicked in natural light tend to vary on the time of day they were shot. An image taken in the middle of the sunny, summer day would be quite different from the ones taken during the golden hour. Both such images, on the other hand, would be pretty distinguished for images taken at dusk or at night. It is possible to take good images with natural light at night by using a very long shutter speed. Sunlight essentially changes color over the span of the day. The soft light of dusk and dawn is dominated by yellows and oranges. On the other hand, the midday sun creates more of blue and yellow light.
Natural lighting can be useful for portraits and landscapes alike. While most people do link natural light with bucolic landscape photos, it can be used to create stunning portraits as well. In fact, Bruce Weber Photographer has clicked a number of stunning pet and fashion portraits by using natural lighting. By experimenting with a variety of exposures and settings on their DSLR or SLR camera, and managing the white balance, a photographer can create compelling outdoor portraits using natural light.
Natural light enters buildings through doors and windows, which essentially can be exploited for photography. Window photography, for instance, combines natural lighting of the sun with interior décor, which leads to the creation of pretty interesting images. This form of ambient lighting can actually be much easier to work with in comparison to direct sunlight as the window light comes from a fixed direction. By placing the subject indoors, beside a window with an open shade, the photographer shall be able to control the flow of light, and prevent the issues of washouts or backlighting.
A reflector can be quite useful in natural light photography. It bounces the sunlight towards the subject of the camera, and makes sure that they are always better lit from the front than from the back. Such an approach enables photographers to produce, high-contrast, detailed images of the subjects.