Mastering Naturalistic Lighting

Naturalistic lighting is not dependent on a particular number of lights. Instead, the technique strives to match the lighting of the real world, whatever it might be. Every naturalistic lighting setup is different. Therefore, specific steps for achieving good naturalistic lighting cannot be written in stone. Nevertheless, some general guidelines are appropriate: a

First, identify the strongest source of light and determine its origin. Is the light coming from a recognizable object, such as a lamp? Is the light actually reflected from a floor, wall, or ceiling? If you’re lighting a 3D scene that doesn’t actually exist, think of a location in the real world that is a relatively close match. Once you’ve determined what the source is, place a key light that replicates its quality. For example, sunlight is best replicated with a directional light, a flashlight is best replicated with a spot light, reflected light from a large wall is best replicated with an area light, and so on.

Shadows offer clues to the nature of the light source. For example, if a row of windows is shadowed and the shadows are hard-edged and all in parallel, the source is direct sunlight. If the shadows are fairly distinct but are skewed, the source is an artificial light fairly close by. If shadows are extremely soft and diffuse, the source either is very broad or consists wholly of reflected light. If you are lighting a scene that has a particular time of day or specific interior location, make sure your shadows match accordingly.

(Left) Sunlight creates parallel shadows of windows on a floor. (Middle) An artificial light creates heavily skewed shadows of a fence. (Right) A photographer’s light umbrella creates a broad source of light and thus an extremely soft shadow.