This Is How Far You Can Get With A Good Understanding Of Natural Light

A lot of the time when we look at a well executed image we think about how it was lit. And a lot of times, the strobes and softboxes and other light modifiers photographers use have a huge impact on the final photo.

But sometimes having a good natural light source and a good understanding of light is all you need.

I saw this photograph by photographer Maxim Guselnikov and was surprised to learn it was all natural light.

Maxim told DIYP how the photo was made:

Here`s breakdown of shoot I did back in May. It was 100% improvised because of the rain so outdoor shoot became indoor one. I use available natural light most of the time so this one is a good example of how you can use available natural light even indoors in impromptu situation.

This one was quite easy thanks to huge, I mean HUGE windows of bookstore in St Petersburg. I tried a few different angles and then finished by placing my model against the window to make her perfectly lit by soft window light. I used Sigma 35/1.4 there and it helped a lot to nail that perspective. Bookshelves lines created great leading lines to Brina while having them as a symbolic wings (which reminds us of the times when books gave our fantasy wings).

So it is a one light setup with a large 5x5m window as a main light at photographers back (my back). You can see the place in additional images.

The photo was processed in Lr, ON1 Effects & PS, but really kept to a minimum, here a quick before/after comparison:

To help you get the setup, I threw in a selfie which model, me & MUA made there with the same “setup”

If you want to follow Maxim’s work you can follow him on Facebook, visit his site or follow his 500px stream.