How To Shoot Product Photos Using Natural Light

You can capture beautiful product photography in natural light. Get tips for how and when to use natural light in your product photos—no fancy equipment needed.

Renowned American photographer Alfred Stieglitz once said, “Wherever there is light, one can photograph.” While ecommerce business owners might feel they need expensive studio equipment to produce high-quality product images, usually all they need is natural light.

The benefit of using only natural light is it captures the color, texture, and detail of products most accurately. That creates more true-to-life images and gives buyers a true sense of what they’re purchasing. It also helps you save quite a bit on photography equipment.

Learn to master natural light product photography with this guide to how and when natural light can help your product photos shine.

Why use natural light for product photography?

Quality lighting is an essential element of any product photography. Many photographers prefer to use natural lighting by tapping into a beautiful and totally free light source: the sun.
Photographing products in natural light can help you: 

• Highlight accurate details within your product images—unlike artificial lights, which can sometimes distort colors

• Be more cost-effective by eschewing an expensive lighting setup that would have multiple studio lights and professional lighting equipment.

• Save time—no need to set up all that lighting equipment.

Natural lighting tips for your next product photoshoot

• Choose your location
• Time it right
• Play with your camera settings
• Try different angles
• Experiment with different setups
• Refine lighting
• Polish with post-processing

Natural lighting can result in realistic product images, but you must approach the timing and angles of your photo shoots thoughtfully. Here are a few tips for getting the perfect shot: 

Choose your location

If the sun is your main photography light source, your location is a top priority. If you’re shooting outdoors, you have more flexibility. For example, if you’re at the park on a very sunny day in a spot that provides no coverage from direct sunlight, you can find shade to get better results.

Indoors, there are more things to take into account. When shooting indoors, try to orient your setup within a few feet of a large window. North-facing windows will provide softer, even light, whereas a south-facing window usually offers more direct light. Avoid east- and west-facing windows, due to the inconsistent light rays that are highly dependent on the time of day.

Time it right

To find the right lighting, timing is key. The best times for product photography in natural lighting are:

• Early morning, just before sunrise
• Late afternoon, as the sun begins to set

These times are known as “golden hour.” They provide just enough light to illuminate your product, while producing soft shadows. Contrast that with shooting outside midday when the sun is directly above you. Midday direct sunlight can cast harsh shadows on your subjects, leading to unappealing and distorted representations of what you’re selling.

Play with your camera settings

You can get a lot out of natural lighting by experimenting with the equipment you do have at hand: your camera.

Using a smartphone is an accessible option for product photography, especially if you’re just getting started with your ecommerce business. However, if you have the budget, consider investing in a DSLR or mirrorless camera. Using a digital camera that’s not a smartphone will give you more control over your photoshoots and help you produce more polished photos with a higher level of professionalism.

Compared to smartphone cameras, DSLR camera settings can help you accomplish more with your product photography more easily.

Some useful DSLR camera settings include:

• Shooting in manual mode, in which you can adjust the aperture, altering the depth of field

• More nuanced focus possibilities, which can be particularly useful for product detail close-ups

• ISO, which adjusts your sensor’s sensitivity to light

• Shutter speed, which affects how long your camera shutter is open to receive light

Try different combinations of your camera settings to determine which ones you like best. For example, if you’re photographing a model in motion, you can opt for a fast shutter speed to avoid unwanted blur.

Try different angles

Straight-on photos can get the job done, but taking the time to find the most flattering angles can help your products stand out more to potential customers. Depending on the size and shape of your products, using different angles can add a more artistic style and better convey each product’s unique qualities.

For example, if you have a small product like a perfume bottle, use a low angle to give it a sense of height. Low-angle images exude a sense of authority and power that may align with the nature of your brand style. Alternatively, using a high angle will shorten your product. This can be an effective angle for taller objects that you want to fit within a tighter frame.

When photographing in natural light, pay close attention to the ways different angles cast different shadows. You may need to adjust angles and locations to get the look you want in natural lighting.

Experiment with different setups

For product images, you might start with the cornerstone setting: a flat surface and white background. A table against white paper or a plain white wall works great if you don’t want to buy a photography backdrop.

Once you have a few standard images, experiment with different background colors and props to find your artistic style and contextualize your products. For example, if you have a perfume line, circling your products with flowers that align with each perfume scent can connote floral scents and add a pop of color to your images.

Refine lighting

Without multiple light sources, you’ll need to get creative by leveraging the available natural light. There are essentially two ways to manipulate light: reflection and diffusion.

Reflecting natural lighting

Reflection can create a fill light, which is a secondary light that directs light to the darker, opposite side of your product. That helps to illuminate your entire product. Use white foam board, cardstock, or silver/gold fill cards to act as light reflectors. White and metallic materials will reflect more light, and darker card stock will diminish light further. The natural light reflection effects you choose depend on your product’s needs at that moment. Place the reflection boards on the side of your product across from your natural light source, and experiment with different angles until you feel your product is lit appropriately.

Diffusing natural lighting

Diffusion is useful when working with harsh lighting. For example, if you are photographing on a sunny day, you’ll want to diffuse how severely the sun illuminates your subjects. If you’re using window light, an easy diffusion tactic is to drape a thin white sheet over the frame of the window. That will diminish the light coming into your space, so your photoshoot is more evenly lit.

Polish with post-processing

Regardless of how well your raw images turn out, there are always tweaks you can make before you post to your social media or ecommerce website. Post-processing often entails cropping, editing, and removing unwanted dust, glares, or distractions from each photo. Adobe Lightroom is a widely used tool for product photography, but there are many free photo editing apps that also offer robust features.

Start with easier functions, such as contrast, exposure, and brightness sliders, to make final changes to lighting and shadows. If you have distracting periphery objects in your image, a spot healing brush tool will remove crumbs or smudges that you may have missed while shooting.

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List your naturally lit products online

Once you’ve shot and edited your product photography in natural light, you can start listing them on your online store, social media selling platforms, and marketplaces like Etsy. Complement your high-quality photographs with effective product copy and product detail pages that will capture your audience’s attention and make sales.

Product photography natural light FAQ

How do you do product photography in natural light?

To achieve great product photos using natural light product photography, shoot your images in the early morning or late afternoon, dial in your camera settings, manipulate lighting with reflectors and diffusers, and clean up each image with post-processing.

Which light is best for product photography?

You can get great product shots with different types of lighting setups. However, natural lighting can create softer, more lifelike images, which can help potential customers see your products most accurately and attractively.

What time of day is best for natural light photography?

The best light is in the early morning and late afternoon, as the sun is about to rise or set. The most challenging time to shoot is midday because of the hard light (bright direct sunlight).