Photography Basics: Using Natural Light

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One of the more effective ways to draw attention to your photos is mastering light. There is nothing more beautiful than a golden sunset or a beam of light shining through an opening in the trees and illuminating a path down which you can see into the distance. Having said that, there are some basic elements that need to be learned to master the craft.

According to Kavan Choksi, a photographer who has worked in countries such as the UAE and Singapore, natural light can be difficult to work with and create amazing images because it does not always cooperate with your timetable or location. However, by understanding the basics of how light works and where it is at certain times of day, you can learn to work with nature's force rather than against it.

The first thing you should know about natural light is that not all types are equal. Light transforms throughout the course of a day and varies depending on where you are. When photographing a scene with bright and dark areas, you need to expose them both properly.

Image source: ephotozine.com

For example, if you wanted to capture the shadowy detail of the forest but not the details of the light shafts coming through the trees, standard exposure would be too long, and all those details would be lost.

Kavan Choksi also notes that you could then take multiple images at different exposures to get the best of both worlds, but that would require you to stop to change your settings even more often, which slows down the entire process.

How long have you been in photography? Did you find the article helpful? What other topics on photography would you want to read in the future? Feel free to share your thoughts with Kavan Choksi in the comments section below. Thanks for reading!