Natural light is a major component of photography. It is almost the only reason an image can exist. Once you click the shutter of a camera, light enters the camera transforming the image into electric signals. It then turns into pixels in a digital photograph.

Before we dive into the details of the fundamentals of photography, let’s first understand natural light and how to compose photos thoughtfully using natural light.

What Exactly is Natural Light?

Natural light is the most basic and important form of light. It generally refers to any light created by sunlight.

Natural light is available abundantly. Upon paying attention to certain factors such as how the sun’s light changes under different weather conditions, you can learn to apply the basic techniques in any genre of photography.

Using Light to Compose Thoughtfully

Balancing between the direction of light and the position of the subject is a tough task. However, it makes a huge difference in setting the mood for your photographs.

Figure out the creative angle of the light to hit on the subject. There are three types of angles. The front-lit, backlit and side lit.

Let’s now find out what does front lit, backlit and side lit means.

Front Lit

A subject can be termed as front lit when the light falls behind you and hitting the subject. When the light comes from this direction fully or partially, it eliminates shadows.

Side Lit

A subject is termed as side lit when the light hits the subject from either the left or right side depending upon the texture.

Backlit

When the light comes from behind the subject, providing a glow, silhouette or light fare, then it is called as backlit.

It is not going to be easy to figure out the proper way to use natural light. At the same time, the light flares can also damage your camera’s sensor if not used properly!

It takes a lot of practice and experiment to click creative photos using natural light. If you wish to become a successful photographer and photography is your real passion, enrol in photography certification course with Hamstech. Students at Hamstech get an opportunity to get mentored with ace Hindi cinema photographer, Avinash Gowariker which helps them understand photography from the industry’s perspective.