Lighting In Nature Photography

By Harold Spencer


In nature photography, there are few things more significant in the outcome of pictures taken than good lighting. It's not as easy as taking studio pictures, where you can easily customize the lighting and shade settings - you need to find the right lighting yourself when taking nature shots. That's not all - you need to consider your subject and how it may behave, and not just other elements such as the lighting.

Of course for the seasoned photographer, natural light is no longer a hindrance. With the help of natural light, many a photographer can make a great-looking picture from an otherwise dull one. These photographers make great pictures with great effects, including but not limited to use of shadows. This would apply usually to landscape settings, or any other setting capturing flowers or other natural subjects.
There are a lot of places to find good light. The sunlight naturally can be found in the daytime, while the moonlight radiates in the evening. Natural lighting is a bit trickier to find as it isn't as direct as moonlight or sunlight. One can use any of these sources of light. The trick is to know how to use it by angling the camera and the subject to achieve the exposure that you want.

By assessing how the light affects the subject, or the effect of the shadows cast on it, you can get a better idea of which angle to use. Many nature photographers desire a dramatic effect, so what they would do is use the shadows as their main source of light instead of the natural light.

Here are the four directions you would need to learn if you wish to use outside lighting to your advantage. You may get rough-looking shadows and high contrast if you use the first direction, which is overhead. This is achieved when the light is directly above the subject like when it is noontime. Frontal lights, on the other hand, could cause the result to go a bit flat.

This is usually seen with shots that use flash in the camera. If you take pictures in this direction, chances are you'll be lacking for depth and dimension. You may need another fill or place a reflector in the back to get optimum color when shooting with light at the back. Often, with a light at the back, the shadows may ruin the photo.

You can get ideal results if you shoot with the light at the side - direction-wise, you can hardly go wrong with the texture, color and other dimensions of the picture you are taking. You will notice certain parts highlighted and others not highlighted when taking pictures us
Here are the four directions you would need to learn if you wish to use outside lighting to your advantage. You may get rough-looking shadows and high contrast if you use the first direction, which is overhead. This is achieved when the light is directly above the subject like when it is noontime. Frontal lights, on the other hand, could cause the result to go a bit flat.

This is usually seen with shots that use flash in the camera. If you take pictures in this direction, chances are you'll be lacking for depth and dimension. You may need another fill or place a reflector in the back to get optimum color when shooting with light at the back. Often, with a light at the back, the shadows may ruin the photo.

You can get ideal results if you shoot with the light at the side - direction-wise, you can hardly go wrong with the texture, color and other dimensions of the picture you are taking. You will notice certain parts highlighted and others not highlighted when taking pictures using this technique.




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