Making the Most of Natural Light

Eastern Wood Pewee
(front-lit)

As outdoor photographers, we have a significant challenge--we are at the mercy of the sun and weather.  Sunny days give us fast shutter speeds, but usually this comes with harsh shadows.  Cloudy days give us even lighting, but then we have grey skies and slower shutter speeds.  Sometimes the light is uneven, where the scene you're photographing may have both sun and shade.  We can compensate for this challenge somewhat with a flash, but even with the best flash, the lighting conditions around you can significantly affect your images.

Eastern Wood Pewee
(shaded)

The photos included here are of an Eastern Wood Pewee (a small flycatcher) and the first three images are of the exact same bird taken on the same day.  The differences between the photographs have to do with the relative positions of my camera, the bird and the sun.  The first image above was taken with sunlight coming from behind me, and direct sunlight fell on the bird, but not on the background.  This made it necessary for me to use exposure compensation to avoid over exposing the bird.  The second image above was taken when the bird and the background were in the shade.  You can see that the scene is much more evenly lit.  The third image was taken when the sun was in front of me, and here the Pewee is basically a silhouette.  Each style of lighting has its place, but you must be able to determine how your scene is lit so that you can use exposure compensation if necessary to get the image you want.  And if you can change your location relative to your subject, you can create the lighting situation you want. In this case, the photograph below was the first photograph I took, but as I followed his movements, I put the sun behind me to to take the images above.

Also, notice that the color of light has changed in each of these photos.  The color of light will change whether your scene receives direct sunlight, is diffused with clouds or is in the shade.  You can correct for this by adjusting the white balance of your camera.  I haven't adjusted any of these photos to illustrate this point.  If you're shooting RAW files, this is easy to change in the computer.

Eastern Wood Pewee
(silhouette)

As another example, consider this image below.  On this day, the Pewee was in the shade, but the background was lit.  Thankfully the relative brightness between the two was not so great to put the Pewee into a silhouette, but to me, the bright background distracts me from my subject.  While it's not my favorite, I'd much prefer having this image to none at all.  The image below would have been significantly helped if I had my flash with me.

Eastern Wood Pewee
(shaded with brighter background)