DCR Workshop: Setting Up a Natural Light Studio

Many photographers opt for natural lighting if they can for many reasons. Some prefer its look over that of strobes, and others were just trained to use natural light over other types. If this sounds like you, you'll be glad to know that there are ways to harness natural lighting to help you capture better photos. So what does it take to set up your own natural light studio? Check out our basic guide on getting started.

You'll need:

• A backyard or rooftop. In general, any open space will do.
• A background. Muslins can be easier to transport but they wrinkle easily (and those show up in the photos). Paper looks amazing, but has reflective properties and also may not be the easiest thing to lug around. You may even want to have two background setups, with one acting as an artificial wall to block any extra light from coming in and tweaking the need to re-meter your subject.
• Stands for the backgrounds.
• Light stands. Though you're not using artificial lights, these will come in handy. Trust me.
• A Scrim Jim. (That's a frame with a collapsable, light-diffusing "scrim.")Westcott makes a great one. Alternatively, if you're the DIY type of photog, you can hack a brand new shower curtain to do the exact same thing.
• Rope, or lots of Gaffer's Tape (a photographer's best friend). Sandbags wouldn't hurt either.
• Your camera, preferably a DSLR because you'll want something with a better dynamic range and amazing color depth to take advantage of the soft diffused lighting.
• Reflectors. Alternatively, you can use a large, single five-in-one or seven-in-one reflector. These can be used for anything such as diffusing light (with the transparent configuration) or adding warm, cool or neutral light to the subject.
• Two stools (one for you, and one for your subject).

Setting Up Shop
Now that you've got the raw materials, it's time to get to work. As a word to the wise, this is best done with two or three people to assure that everything goes smoothly and efficiently.

First you'll want to take note of where the sun's position is and you'll even want to track its movement carefully. Figure out which spot you want to shoot in. Quickly set up the background of choice and adjust its height to work with the subject you intend on photographing.

Trust me, that isn't always as easy as it sounds. Sometimes you may only need to assemble one background: such as in the case that your backyard has a wall of bushes that can block out any extra light from affecting the image. Otherwise, you'll need to set up a temporary artificial wall (hence the need for the second background).

Next, set up the Scrim Jim so that it's positioned above and angled towards your subject. The Scrim Jim should diffuse the sun's natural rays. To put this more clearly, imagine having your subject face into the sun (with the sun behind you) and have the Scrim Jim raised above and angled so that it diffuses the light hitting his or her face. The Scrim Jim should diffuse the light enough so that your subject doesn't need to squint. When you've set that up, you know that the lighting will be soft enough.

Winds can get the best of even the sturdiest outdoor studio, so you'll want to use some of the following:

• Sandbags, to weigh the stands down and keep them in place. Certain types are even designed for use on photo and video sets.
• Rope or lots of gaffer's tape to hold the Scrim Jim in place. What I've done is tied one end of the rope to the top end of the Scrim Jim and the other end to a pole or something of the sort.
• More sandbags, weights or gaffers tape to hold the background down and in place. It can either flap around like a flag in the wind or it can fly up and hit the subject you're photographing in the back. Neither one is a great situation.