Portrait Photography How To

Photographers can’t seem to get enough of natural lighting tips and we can’t get enough of photographer Julia Trotti’s great portrait photography tutorials. Put the two together and you get the below video where Trotti offers tips on how to use natural light effectively to capture beautiful portraits.

Sure, everyone says they likes to shoot in natural light because it’s easy, it’s cheap, and it can produce stunning results (when done right). But, as Trotti explains below, there are small things you can do to make sure you’re getting the most out of the available light.

For example, she shows how if your model is in front of a background that is too dark, it creates too much contrast, causing everything behind her to look “like a really dark blob.” Plus, when you are too far back from you model, you can get distracting elements in your image such as grass and tree branches.

The solution? Get in close and crop out the grass in the background. The end result is the model is more the focus of the image and the distracting elements are minimized. This doesn’t mean, however, that you need to get in close for all your natural light portraits. Further in the video, Trotti explains how to go wide and use the sun as a stunning side-lighting accent.

As usual, Trotti’s tips are on point. Watch the video below to see the rest of her natural lighting advice. You should also check out this video where she compares a Canon DSLR to a Sony mirrorless camera during a swimsuit shoot at the beach.