Shooting Outdoors... Artificial vs. Natural Light?

[ChrisAdval]

I really don't know which is better they both seem to have its advantages for different tones of a photo I honestly want to shoot both all the time to ensure I have one or the other tones available from the shoot and make an interesting set of photos... What do you guys think?

[ravncat]

It really depends upon what your goal for the image is.

[BigFuzzy]

really depends on what I'm going for and what the conditions are.
The key is having the ability to do both so you can choose which one best fits your needs.
If you limit yourself (yes, I'm looking at you all you self-proclaimed natural light photographers), then you're at the mercy of one technique with little adaptability.

Yesterday I shoot some official womens football photos and though I did 95% with flash (2 strobes), I did some with natty light as well.. but I had the option which is key.

Simply learn to use which will work best for the thing you're going for and you'll be fine.

[ChrisAdval]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

really depends on what I'm going for and what the conditions are.
The key is having the ability to do both so you can choose which one best fits your needs.
If you limit yourself (yes, I'm looking at you all you self-proclaimed natural light photographers), then you're at the mercy of one technique with little adaptability.

Yesterday I shoot some official womens football photos and though I did 95% with flash (2 strobes), I did some with natty light as well.. but I had the option which is key.

Simply learn to use which will work best for the thing you're going for and you'll be fine.

I agree, but for some reason I love using artificial lighting outdoors a lot more than natural.. but as to both they just feel and look very different in the end. To me, when I see portraits done with artificial lighting outdoors (and done as the key light not fill) it just generally looks more awesome. I can't explain it that well...

Like these I shot...


Miss Shadow On-Location Kirby Park 14 by Chris Adval, on Flickr


Rebecca Jayne Outdoors 06 by Chris Adval, on Flickr

I like them both, but for some reason I just love outdoors shots that have the strob as the key light a lot more.

[Rentham]

I like lighting my outdoor work. Knocking the ambient down a few stops, getting the sky go to dark and crunchy, having the subject stand out, etc.

Recently, though, I've gotten very bored with shooting at f/16 and lugging around a bunch of gear. I've been shooting available light with just an 85mm and reflector. Refreshing change for a bit.

[ChrisAdval]

Originally Posted by Rentham

I like lighting my outdoor work. Knocking the ambient down a few stops, getting the sky go to dark and crunchy, having the subject stand out, etc.

Recently, though, I've gotten very bored with shooting at f/16 and lugging around a bunch of gear. I've been shooting available light with just an 85mm and reflector. Refreshing change for a bit.

yea I agree I started with just one flash on my first real outdoors shoot and it came out okay, but caring around a little extra weight around can get very annoying for 2-4 hour shoot and walking around a big park shooting on many different spots. Since then, I just shot with natural lighting just cause I didn't want to spend the money really to buy new batteries for my speedlight.

[NathanFranke]

I use natural light because I mainly do kids--little ones at that. The oldest kid I've photographed since January is 5 now, and he has three siblings and it was for family portraits. They will not sit still while I set up lights and futz with the output.

I like lighting my outdoor work. Knocking the ambient down a few stops, getting the sky go to dark and crunchy, having the subject stand out, etc.

Ditto. I just need an assistant for that. And more gear. (has a 420ex, ab800, no radio triggers, one light stand, no speedlite adaptor for the light stand, and a bent umbrella )