As a photographer you will often be required to make a decision on how you are going to light your images. Photography does mean painting with light after all, but do you use natural or artificial lighting? This often splits opinion between photographers. Each has its own pros and cons and some photographers will use both types depending on the shoot. With this in mind I’ve put together some of the pros and cons of choosing each type of lighting along with some examples.
Natural Lighting
Natural light is probably the cheapest and most easily available source of light for your imagery. You only need a camera, subject and to step outside to be able to create images with this lighting. The ‘golden’ hours being dubbed the best times of day for photographs. This is due to the soft diffused light from the sun at this time of day. Overcast days can also soften the light and provide subtler shadows, so don’t think nothing can be shot on those overcast days. That said, rain can stop play if you are planning to shoot outside. You might however, be able to use a window as a light source should you need to shoot an alternative scene. As well as the softer light the sun provides, its also possible to play around with stronger light towards the middle of the day when the sun is more directly overhead to create strong silhouetted images.
There are a few other downsides to natural light, mainly the amount of time it is available. Unless you live at the north pole you won’t have access to 24 hours of daylight and as a result the light will be minimal towards the start and end of the day. You may therefore require more expensive lenses with wide apertures to benefit from the hours of the day where the lighting is relatively low.
Natural lighting is a great way of incorporating authenticity into your images from the lighting side. This used in lifestyle photography showing real people and moments can really help immerse your viewer in the simplicity and genuine feel of an image. In addition to lifestyle photography, many food photographers use the diffused daylight light from north and south facing windows to create a genuine representation of the food without any harsh shadows or highlights.
Artificial Lighting
Artificial lighting tends to be the staple of the studio photographer, providing consistently lit images regardless of the time of day.
Using this type of lighting enables you as the photographer to easily and quickly modify the results of the image. There are a huge amount of accessories available to shape the light to your needs such as bulbs, gels, soft boxes and reflectors. It’s not so easy to stick a soft box on the sun!
The main disadvantage with artificial lighting is that it can get expensive. Professional studio flashes and their accessories can be pricey so this should be considered if you are on a budget. They will also need maintenance or replacing depending on the amount of use they see. That said, you can get some great images using everyday household lightbulbs or even candles. These provide a different take on artificial light and give your images that homely comforting feel. You might want to check out our blog on Hygge if this type of artificial lighting appeals to you. All this extra equipment also comes with additional weight so could make things difficult to transport to location. You’ll also need a power source for all of the lights.
Fashion and Product photography favour the use of artificial light in order to best shape the light over the subject. When done right it can create really sharp, edgy looking images that make your subject stand out and draws your viewer in. On the downside if you’re new to studio lighting it can take a lot of trial and error to get the balance right.
Mixed Lighting
With the above pros and cons of each lighting type there’s an argument towards using both types of light together. Its possible to use artificial light to compliment or add elements to a scene filled with natural light. Using a flash can add a subtle fill for the harsher shadows experienced at certain times of the day, as well as defining your subject and separate them slightly from the background to add that extra depth of field.
Do you favour one type of lighting over the other? Or do you mix lighting types? Let us know in the comments below.