Just another day of Trying to shoot without flash gun

[schwarzk0pf]

I have trying to use the Natural light in outdoor shoot.


C&Cs are welcome

 

[KmH]

Light produced by a flash unit is as natural as any other light source.
A better term is ambient or available light.

Only using ambient light puts a lot of restraints of your artistic possibilities.
You have a lot less control over the light quality and it's direction, 2 critical aspects of photographic lighting.

 

[DanOstergren28 4]

I think your use of natural light is actually pretty great. I used to shoot OCF exclusively until my gear was stolen and I was forced to use natural light exclusively. In my personal opinion natural light may be more difficult to use, but once you've mastered natural light it can be incredibly beautiful in ways that in my opinion strobes cannot match. In your case since you have a choice and aren't being forced, I think it's a great idea that you are taking the time to practice with each exclusively. That can only improve your craft.

 

[jenko]

I think this is a great shot! Very natural, beautiful color, a good lifestyle portrait.

 

[Walt_T]

I think you should do more with natural light. Your image is wonderful and available light is still one of the most beautiful if you know how to work it.

 

[tirediron]

It is indeed a nice image, and good use of ambient light, however, I submit that this image would definitely have benefitted from supplemental light; it would have allowed you to reduce the background exposure and prevent the blown sky. Since the human eye is naturally attracted to light over dark, what happens here is that the blown, featureless sky tries to pull the viewer's eye away from the subject.

 

[Derrel]

Light produced by a flash unit is as natural as any other light source.

Hilarious wit.

I guess that's why flash units were invented in the 20th century, and need batteries or electricity to function. The Sun, this planet's greatest source of natural light, was invented in the 1920's, and is powered by just four 1.5-volt AA batteries OR 110-volt AC wall current!

Flash units are also great for making garden plants grow; one simply fires one flash pop every 1.5 seconds, and after 10 years, the HEAT makes a nice warm climate over huge areas, and then the light rays from the Sun do the other 5%.

 

[Gavjenks]

Only using ambient light puts a lot of restraints of your artistic possibilities.
You have a lot less control over the light quality and it's direction, 2 critical aspects of photographic lighting.

Restraints, yes. You can't just shoot any old place, and that is constraining.
Loss of control over light quality and direction? Um... no.

Quality: Google "open shade" and/or usage of reflectors.
Direction: Most models and photographers come equipped with legs usually.

 

[tirediron]

Light produced by a flash unit is as natural as any other light source.

Hilarious wit.

I guess that's why flash units were invented in the 20th century, and need batteries or electricity to function. The Sun, this planet's greatest source of natural light, was invented in the 1920's, and is powered by just four 1.5-volt AA batteries OR 110-volt AC wall current!

Flash units are also great for making garden plants grow; one simply fires one flash pop every 1.5 seconds, and after 10 years, the HEAT makes a nice warm climate over huge areas, and then the light rays from the Sun do the other 5%.

Light is light, a photon is a photon, irrespective of the source. It matters not the source of the light. I realize that a lot of people see this as a very trivial point, but IMO, it's actually a very important one. Why? Because separating sources into "natural" and "artificial" tends to make people think that sunlight is better than light produced by a man-made source. It's not - they're the same, and flash, when used properly should normally be indistinguishable from sunlight.

Direction: Most models and photographers come equipped with legs usually.

Yes... but what if I want that background? Bringing in a speedlight to help with the lighting is a LOT easier than moving, oh... say the Sphinx so that the model falls in the right lighting.

 

[Derrel]

This shot is the exact kind of photo where a little pop of on-camera flash would have added some eye sparkle, and made her hair show some detail, instead of being plugged up with crushed, detail-less black. A bit of AUTO FP-SYnch flash (Nikon-speak) or HSS flash (Canon-speak) would have made this shot much more engaging.

As-shown, the shot is excessively high in contrast...the shadows are deep, and dark, and the dynamic range appears quite compressed, and not quite "right" for a spring-time-like mood. This type of lighting is low in contrast within the open shade parts of the scene, but the backlighting pushes the extreme of what the sensor can handle. Just a bit of flash-fill would have changed this image a LOT. A whole lot.

 

[Gavjenks]

Yes... but what if I want that background? Bringing in a speedlight to help with the lighting is a LOT easier than moving, oh... say the Sphinx so that the model falls in the right lighting.

I agree, that's what I said. The constraints come in the form of restricted location (can't shoot any old place), not in the form of loss of control over direction or quality of light.

 

[Gavjenks]

Oh right, @OP:
1) The hat I think is making her face probably unnecessarily dark and is robbing you of catchlights in her eyes from the sky / nearby buildings / etc.
2) You generally want to avoid shooting with a background that itself is in full sun, since it blows out like this (or still looks weird even if it doesn't blow out)

 

[Derrel]

"natural light" is entirely different from "man-made light".

Natural light, continuous light, is continuous...and can be used across the entire range of shutter speeds on any camera's speed dial...while strobe light has its own, very NARROW range of shutter speeds with today's cameras, and demands an entirely different approach to shooting pictures. Electronic flash is brief in duration, and can not be seen or previewed while working with it...it lasts milliseconds, and then is...gone.

As to HSS or AUTO FP synch flash, synchronized at high shutter speeds...MANY people have cameras THAT WILL NOT WORK with this technology...so, whose Nikon D3200 will simply NOT SHOOT PICTURES using sunlight? Bueller? Bueller???

Nikon D3xxx and D5XXX owners, and Canon Rebel owners can not shoot AUTO FP Synch or HSS photos, no matter how much they would like to.

These basic differences alone differentiate "electronic flash" from "natural light".

Let's cut the semantic B.S., shall we???

 

[runnah]

The Sun, this planet's greatest source of natural light, was invented in the 1920's, and is powered by just four 1.5-volt AA batteries OR 110-volt AC wall current!

Man, and I always thought it was powered by hydrogen...

 

[pixmedic]

Light produced by a flash unit is as natural as any other light source.

Hilarious wit.

I guess that's why flash units were invented in the 20th century, and need batteries or electricity to function. The Sun, this planet's greatest source of natural light, was invented in the 1920's, and is powered by just four 1.5-volt AA batteries OR 110-volt AC wall current!

that's weird....
AA batteries?
if flashes are powered by AA batteries, why does my wife send me out for D batteries every other week?