I’ve been photographing products for clients for about 30 years now. While my equipment has evolved over that time, one thing has stayed the same, my love of shooting with natural light.
When I first started shooting products professionally, I was working with jewelry clients, trying to invoke a sense of romance with my shots. I was shooting using a film based dslr Canon camera, along with some other older cameras like a 4×5 Mamiya, and an amazing vintage Yashica that had a lens like I’ve never seen on any other camera.
I was convinced I needed to pair these amazing cameras with a serious light set up, and started collecting equipment. Then the owner of one of the bigger film developing labs in San Francisco suggested I try shooting with natural light. The goal was to invoke more depth and mystery into the shots. He gave me ideas about angles, time of day, bouncing light, and propping other colors around the subject to create incredible shots. I’ve been hooked on natural light ever since.
Shooting products with natural light offers a lot of advantages – especially to amateur photographers, and those who need to produce loads of material in a short amount of time.
Studio Light vs. Natural Light
The differences between natural daylight and artificial light for a photographer lie mostly in the spectrum of the light as it falls on your subject.
The full light spectrum can only be found in natural sunlight, and this reads in the photographs you take. An dreary overcast day offers a better spectrum of light than bright studio lighting. Actually, a dreary overcast day is the ideal time to shoot products outdoors, as long as you’re careful with shadows.