A collection of guides to working with only natural or available light.

The concept

Documentarian and cinematographer Mark Bone first demonstrates how he uses the sun to backlight his subjects (or “lighting upstage”)…

… and then how he uses natural 45 degree lighting in a interview situations:

Cinematographer WanderingDP breaks down commercial examples of backlighting, which he refers to as “The Framework”:

Modifiers: An Introduction

Gaffer Jacob Geller explains how natural light is controlled and the tools used in this behind-the-scenes still:

Resident lighting guy here. Most of these are called flags. The solid blacks are used to remove light (left of image) and add contrast (next to Will). The one with a green outline is a single net, which subtracts light but doesn’t fully remove it 1/

— Tyler McDonald (@TmacAttack55) July 3, 2022

The bottom two are bounce cards that are solid white and help reflect light back into the talent’s face. Lighting is all about control, and these are some of the most common tools to do so. Hope this wasn’t an over explanation, just trying to share knowledge. Such a fun job!

— Tyler McDonald (@TmacAttack55) July 3, 2022

In Depth Cine runs through Negative Fill, Bouncing, Diffusing and Shaping natural or available light:

Using Basic Modifiers

In this case study, cinematographer and one-man-crew Danny Gevirtz demonstrates how he uses the sun to help him compose his shot:

In this case study, Nicole Shapiro breaks down her spec commercial shoot, in which she uses only natural light:

Cinecom offers five more tips for shooting in hard sunlight:

Using Advanced Modifiers

Indy Mogul and guest Casey McBeath use cheap materials to tame super-bright direct sunlight into first a manageable, and ultimately a flattering, exposure:

Even lighting manufacturer Aputure has some tips for using natural light, with more sophisticated modifiers:

Wandering DP again, this time demonstrating when not to backlight:

Cinematographer Lewis Potts tries out a more specialised alternative to the white diffusion of ultrabounce. Bluff Bounce has sky-, landscape-, and earthy-coloured segments to reflect (literally, if you so choose) the more varied tones of naturally lit environments:

Without Modifiers

Rob Ellis uses a sun-tracking app and careful scheduling to shoot using only natural light:

CamMacky makes the case against using modifiers (as in the examples later in this post) and demonstrates how harsh, direct light is used in fashion photography:

With planning and pointing the camera in the right direction at the right times of day, direct sunlight can be used for backlighting. Director of Photography Robert Richardson demonstrates this in Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (2019):

Cheating sun backlighting can look amazing. As viewers, we'll often happily ignore continuity going out the window if it looks good. The real question is: why does it not look good in 'Moana'? https://t.co/U9sVLJr7z4 pic.twitter.com/dvNBOBXwrK

— viewinder (@viewinder) March 26, 2026

Commercial Work

Austen Paul demonstrates creating a high end commercial look only using natural light:

Further Viewing

Of course, what we often call “natural” lighting often involves the use of a bunch of artificial lights “motivated” by the natural light in the environment. In Depth Cine demonstrates four basic techniques in cinematic vs natural lighting…

… and gets into further detail about modifiers in the middle sections of his video on lighting:

Still not sure what’s meant by terms like “sidelight” or “backlight”? Check out our look at Media Division’s handy breakdown of Cinematic Lighting:

Film School: Cinematic Lighting