Portrait Photography How To

Today we're exploring the characteristics of soft light and the different ways it can affect the impact of outdoor images, whether they're landscapes, environmental portraits, or just about anything else. This tutorial comes to us from the folks the Great Big Photography World—a YouTube community of passionate creatives with a comprehensive range of lessons for shooters of all skills levels.

The headline above is sure to raise some eyebrows but you read it right. Photographer Deke McCelland says, "I've been using Photoshop since Day 1 and I never use the crop tool. Don't get me wrong, I crop my images but not with the Crop tool, let me explain."

There are two primary reasons that some photographers avoid supplemental light when shooting outdoors. One is that they simply prefer the look of natural light imagery—and in most cases we tend to agree. On the other hand, there are those who refuse to use even the most basic speedlight because they don’t understand how it works.

If you're unfamiliar with the term "Smart Objects" here's a definition paraphrased from the experts at Adobe: They're a type of "container" that holds multiple layers, that enable you to apply a variety of characteristics to an image with different tools and features.

If you're interested in shooting alluring portraits photos without flash or complicated lighting setups, today is your lucky day. That's because this tutorial from the Alex Q YouTube channel demonstrates a unique technique that illuminates the scene with nothing more than candles and two mirrors.

OK, it's time for some honest self-reflection if you're not a fan of supplemental illumination: Do your avoid flash photography because you prefer the look of available-light imagery? Or are you under the misconception that it's too difficult to do right?

Sooner or later all photographers confront a frustrating disparity between how the colors of an image appeared through the viewfinder or on a camera's rear LCD in the field, and what they look like on the computer screen. Unfortunately, when this happens it's typically the computer representation that tends to be inferior.