Camera-natural light

[Light Guru]

I love the outdoors and want to take pictures of families and children outside in settings like fields, vineyards, beaches, next to beautiful stone buildings, military homecoming, etc. I am a mother of 3, veteran and military spouse and I want to be able to capture special moments for other families. (Just not in a studio.)

Something tells me it's not really that. If your anything like other so called "natural light" photographers you love of the outdoors has nothing to do with it. You choose to shoot outdoors so that you can avoid the costs of having a studio.

Shooting outside and shooting in a studio both have advantages.

There is nothing wrong with shooting outside to avoid the costs of a studio.

But just be honest about it. The big reason you are choosing to shoot shoot out side is to avoid the costs of having a studio.

Beware of clishe terms like "natural light photographer" as it really just says I don't know how to use a flash or reflector and don't think my photography can improve if I did learn how to use them.

 

[manicmike]

OP I apologize for my first post. It was a bit rude. Buy a buyer's guide from Popular Photo magazine. That should give you a basic idea on camera differences. Then you should have enough info to do a little more research into what would fit your needs.

 

[toy2048]

You can learing Composition & Color & Lighting first.

 

[s2686qt]

I really did not come on here to argue about what it is I want to do. I don't want a studio because I want to shoot outside! (So why have a studio?) I'm not looking for a 9-5, I am looking to learn and enjoy photography as a hobby. (Once I get really good maybe a client or two)

 

[s2686qt]

With that said, thank you to everyone who has given me their helpful input, it's nice to have a place to start instead of being completely confused. I will continue doing lots of research, hopefully take a class of some sort, and check out the links provided.

 

[cgipson1]

I have decided to pursue my dream of natural light photography.

99.99% of the time when someone calls themselves a "natural light" photographer it's because they don't want to or are afraid to learn how to use flash.

I use the term natural light because I basically only wish to take photos outside. (Family photos in beautiful outdoor locations and nature photos)

FYI flash is used ALL the time when photographing people outdoors. Fill flash is one of the best things to learn for photographing people outdoors.

That OK! Some people seem to think FLASH is easier than shooting "Natural Light".... lol! I guess that is why there are 20,000,000 natural light "PRO's" out there.. they like doing it the hard way!

 

[KmH]

Understood. My initial budget (to get started) is up to about 2,000. (Had no idea cameras could cost up to 10!)

Oh! No. Lots more than $10,000.
A good medium format camera can cost $43,000 - without a lens.
Hasselblad H5D-200MS Medium Format DSLR Camera 3013666 B&H Photo
Mamiya DM-Series 80Mp DSLR Camera Kit with 80mm LS Lens

Some outdoor lenses alone can cost a lot too.
Leica 50mm f/0.95 Noctilux-M Aspherical Manual Focus Lens 11-602
Nikon 600mm f/4.0G ED VR II AF-S SWM Super Telephoto Lens for Nikon FX and DX Format Digital SLR

Thomas Bjorn breaks $80,000 camera lens at Muirfield during British Open first round - News | FOX Sports on MSN

 

[s2686qt]

Wow! That is surprising! Well I decided to go with the canon eos 60d. Cheap compared to those lol

 

[KmH]

Will you be shooting people, landscapes, nature, wildlife, ........?

 

[Dao]

Wow! That is surprising! Well I decided to go with the canon eos 60d. Cheap compared to those lol

To get started, pick a camera, or I should say system that you like to grow with. By system, I meant a particular brand because after you have the camera, all other camera related gears will be brand or system specific. You may not able to use a Sony lens fully if you have a Canon camera. Or use a Canon flash fully with the Nikon camera.

Once you have a camera, then you can start shooting and learning. As for where to start learning the basics, reading books and watching online material should help. If not, check out some local community college and see if they offer some classes for photography. Photo user group could be a good place to start. Of course, we can help in some way.

Light is VERY important in photography. If you are planning to take photos of people, children and families, it is better to learn how to use light. At the end, it is all about light. You maybe surprised some of the photos that you seen in the past that looks like "natural lighting", they were indeed has added light. Learn how to use or modify light is the key.

I saw a video in the past that show how a crew taking a photo of a swimsuit model at the beach around noon time (sunny day). They put giant diffusion panels on the left, right and above the model (like a giant box) and shoot with strobes. The end result was a beautiful photo with model properly exposed with no hard shadow, beautiful sand and even had a blue sky. So learn how to use light may make your life a lot easier in the future.

Welcome to the forum, by the way!

 

[tirediron]

OP: I should very much like to know WHY you don't want to use flash in your outdoor work. Using only ambient light (FWIW, all light is natural, a photon is a photon is a photon... the source may be man-made, but the light is no different) will prove MUCH more difficult than learning and using both ambient and strobed. My experience is that "natural light" photographers fall almost exclusively in to one of two categories: Either (1) They don't understand how to use strobed lighting and are therefore "scared" of it, or (2), they have seen examples of badly done strobed lighting and think that is the way that it looks.

In truth, properly executed balanced lighting (strobe and ambient together) should be pleasing to the eye, and be virtually impossible to determine whether or not strobed lighting was used. That said, if you are determined to only use ambient light for artistic reasons, fair enough; it can and has been done, but it is NOT easy, despite what some think.

 

[amolitor]

Natural light is harder, but a worthwhile skill to master. Less gear to carry around, for one thing.

On the one hand, one can argue (and it has been argued here) that you should have as many arrows as reasonable in your quiver, so understanding fill flash and so forth is a good thing. On the other hand, there's a limit to how much stuff you can carry, how much you want to carry, and how much technique you want to spend time mastering. You're the only one who can really judge where to draw those lines.

Taking nice looking pictures of people, indoors or out, though, is a lot easier if you add a flash to the mix.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I don't think you can really know til you get a camera how well you'll like it or what kind of photography you might end up doing. I can understand not anticipating doing studio work at this point but I think it takes trying photography and seeing how you like it first before you get too far along in planning.

Using a camera for me now is second nature, it feels like it's an extension of myself. But I didn't exactly get to this point overnight. I've done sports and events, and shoot in existing light outdoors for other photography that I do; I never had any particular interest in doing commercial or studio work which seems to have its own set of skills to be learned.

If you like photography well enough then it might develop into something like you envision, I just think you'd need to try it and see if you're good at it then go from there. If you're interested in taking a class you could try looking into community centers or local art centers, and colleges and technical schools or even sometimes public schools have adult continuing ed or enrichment courses.

 

[Mike_E]

Do yourself a favor and just worry about being a photographer first.

Limiting your future gets you into the past far too quickly.

 

[bratkinson]

Do yourself a favor and just worry about being a photographer first.

'Natural light', 'available light', 'ambient light'...all the same thing in my book. Most of my photography is indoors without flash, which poses a multitude of problems that I had to master in knowledge and better equipment. The OP will face exactly the same issues once the sun goes behind a cloud, the subjects backs are to the sun, or in shadows, or after dark.

As Mike_E stated...I had to become a photographer first, not someone who simply points and clicks. Understanding the exposure triangle is paramount to successful photography under most circumstances. Being prepared to handle the 'surprises' encountered when walking into a new situation with unusual lighting issues is part of that success. That means a thorough understanding of what your equipment can do, as well as making the 'acceptable compromises' needed to 'get the picture'. It all starts with learning, with lots of experience, to go with it.