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A Guide to Working
With Natural Light
Sunlight changes color and temperature over the course of the day, and the
light found at dawn or dusk can provide particularly opportune shooting times.
Blue hour offers the cool, moody illumination of twilight, while golden hour,
which occurs shortly after sunrise or before sunset—and is Petra’s favorite
time of day—offers warm, rich light. Midday sun typically contains brighter,
hotter light, which can create harsh shadows and effects.
While you can’t completely control the color and strength of natural light,
you can use a range of tools to shape and direct it, such as the large, floppy,
metallic-coated screens known as bounces or reflectors. (If you’re looking
for a less expensive alternative to a professional-grade bounce, Petra
recommends reflective craft paper or metallic gift bags.)
A G U I D E T O W O R K I N G W I T H N AT U R A L L I G H T PA G E 1 2
Expression Through Film Photography with Petra Collins Sessions by MasterClass
“It’s not
backlighting or even exposing your the clicking sound.
lens to the light source itself.
to you, and
mood, expose your subject, and tell
3. Set your shutter speed a story. Since you’re at the mercy
In this demo, Petra begins by set- of natural light, using these tools
can inter-
both focus and blur, but she later
alters the setting to experiment.
Keep in mind that if you want to
A G U I D E T O W O R K I N G W I T H N AT U R A L L I G H T PA G E 2 2