“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” – George Eastman

Photography is capturing light, therefore, light is our medium, as a sculptors medium is clay. Without light there is no image, without an image we we would be rendered redundant as photographers. So, being able to harness light and make it create the images you have in your mind’s eye is a skill that develops with years of practice, as your relationship with light develops and becomes more intimate, and your confidence with using your medium, light, grows.

There is such gorgeous light all around us, in natural sunlight, but for some reason it is easy to forget to make the most of this incredible light source, when stuck all day in a studio environment, or in a dark theatre. The images below are from a model portfolio shoot with Lilla, and they are all taken using natural light and sometimes a reflector to fill in shadows. It was so refreshing to be shooting with sunlight and I enjoyed it so thoroughly, I rediscovered my passion for natural light and thought I would share this revelation!

In the course of teaching my workshops, I come across so many people taking images, portraits, in particular, indoors with terrible lighting, usually at night under yellow tungsten bulbs. Why? When we all have perfect studios available to us in natural window light? It astounds me! Try not to take advantage of the modern day DSLR camera’s super high ISO abilities, and shoot continually in low light (unless absolutely necessary). Get the best possible results with soft, directional light created by windows (preferrably north facing). Experiment with back-light, side-light, bouncing light with a reflector to lighten shadows… the possibilities are endless.

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