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Features

Three Items For Taming Natural Light And Getting Better Photos

Chris Gampat
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06/22/2013
3 Mins read

Last Updated on 06/22/2013 by Julius Motal

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Retouches of Dave Shim (6 of 6)ISO 320

Natural light is beautiful and can help you create some equally stunning photos–if it’s used correctly. While you can surely find items in your natural surroundings to help you create better images, it isn’t always possible or practical. But if you want to work with natural lighting and make it work the best for you, then there are three items that I’ve been using for years that I’m in love with.

Five in One Reflector

Canon 85mm f1.2 at f2.5 1/200th sec is 125
Canon 85mm f1.2 at f2.5 1/200th sec is 125

Five in one reflectors are an absolutely indispensable item that should be on the gear list of every photographer. Not only are they great for working with natural light, but they’re also awesome at working with studio strobes.

Reflectors take available light and reflect it back into certain areas to soften shadows or add color. But that’s only a couple of configurations–they can also soften direct sunlight greatly with a translucent configuration or block it out complete using a black configuration. In general, the larger the reflector the better.

Buy Now: B&H Photo Adorama Amazon

Translucent White Umbrella

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Film scans (27 of 74)

Translucent white umbrellas do nearly the same thing that a translucent reflector can do, but umbrellas are super portable and can be used as a fashionable accessory as well. They come in various sizes and like all light sources: the larger the source is in relation to the object the softer the light will be.

Generally, translucent white umbrellas are used to give off a large softbox like look in the studio. But the beauty of these accessories is that they can also just diffuse incoming light due to their properties. While we’ve already mentioned the translucency, umbrellas tend to send light in all directions (the pros call this a lack of directional quality). And because of this, it can technically cover a larger area than a near equivalent soft-box.

Buy Now: B&H Photo Adorama Amazon

Variable ND Filter

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Film scans (40 of 74)

Using one of these ND filters isn’t simple, but it will surely give you the results that you need. It’s the smallest accessory on the list and screws onto the front of your lens. So why exactly would you use this?

Let’s say you’re out in the sun with really intense light coming down on your subject. Your creative idea for the photo requires that you shoot with the lens wide open: so you set it to something like f1.4. Then you set your ISO to 100 and shutter speed to 1/4000th, and you’ll realize that you’re still over exposed.

The answer is to add another variable to the exposure equation–and that answer is a Vari-ND filter. We’ve reviewed the Digi-Pro HD from Light Craft Workshop, and to this day we really swear by their products. Even better: I tend to shoot lots of medium format film where the cameras have a max shutter speed of only 1/500th. If I want to shoot wide open with my lens, I really need to dial in the Variable ND filter.

Buy Now: B&H Photo Amazon

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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