Natural Light shooting

Saturday, 9/15..... driving down with my brother(videographer) to a shoot at a friend's pad in Huntington Beach. A shoot that I've been planning for a month now. Got all my gears packed and ready. It was one hot afternoon considering the pad is just walking distance away from the beach. It was surprisingly 101 F . Dumped all my strobes, light stands, portable battery, camera gear in the car.

Arrived at the location at 1:30pm. Unloaded all that heavy gear to the pad. Then a stupid idea came up to me.  Wow... the pad has one big sliding door lighting up the living room.... and the light coming from that opening looks pretty cool. So I decided to just put all equipment in a corner (which really sucks considering the amount of work of lugging it all up to 3 floors).

I was pretty unsure so I had one strobe on standby just in case I don't like the look I will be getting.  Fist model was ready then I started shooting. As I was shooting and checking out the pictures in my camera, I know exactly  how I was going to process the images. It was like after I shoot an image...in my brain, it was already post processed . The more I shot, the more enthusiastic and excited I get.

I realized how I'm missing out shooting with natural light. It's a very different look. A look that I did not really learn to admire and love ..... until now. It's a challenge but when you learn how to use it to your advantage, it is so rewarding.

Some images from that shoot.........

If you want to see more of my work using natural light ... click on the link below
Soleil - working with natural light

Shooting with Natural Light

Just like any other photographer, I started shooting with natural light. I was using different type of reflectors and using available everyday items . Everyday items you might ask? Yes, you can actually use what is provided by around you. Natural items that reflects light... like sand at the beach (on a sunny day of course), water (pool, pond, etc.), lightly colored items like a wooden fence or even concrete floors and walls. You just have to be aware how all the light is reflected and bouncing around in your work area and position your subject correctly. The human eye is so amazing that it can adjust to anything; unlike a camera which is a mechanical item. It's like a computer... garbage in ...garbage out. Reason the camera has shutter speed, aperture, and ISO that will help everything work ...like our human eye.

I usually shoot with strobes especially when I started shooting professionally. I am now going back to my roots and working with ambient light again. A few weeks ago, I worked with a local boutique, an agency model, and a makeup/hair stylist in one of my shoots.  Here are the outcome....

All are done using ambient light... shot around noon time.