Top 20 'Light-Chasing' Photo Challenges to practice for beginners to create stunning images without extra gear - Goh Ling Yong
Hey there, fellow photography enthusiast! Welcome to the blog. If you're just starting your journey, you've probably heard the phrase, "Photography is all about light." It's not just a catchy saying; it's the fundamental truth of our craft. Before you even think about buying expensive flashes, strobes, or modifiers, the single most impactful skill you can develop is learning to see and use the light that's already around you.
The world is a giant, ever-changing photo studio, and the sun is the best, most versatile (and free!) light source you'll ever have. But learning to master it takes practice. It requires you to shift your focus from just what you're shooting to how it's being lit. This is what I call 'light-chasing'—the active pursuit of interesting light and understanding how it shapes your subject, creates mood, and tells a story.
To help you build this crucial skill, I've put together 20 'light-chasing' challenges. You don't need any extra gear for these—just your camera (yes, your smartphone counts!) and a curious eye. Think of this as your personal bootcamp for becoming a master of natural light. Let's dive in!
1. The Classic Golden Hour Portrait
What it is: The golden hour is that magical time shortly after sunrise and just before sunset when the sun is low in the sky. The light is soft, warm, and directional, casting long shadows and bathing everything in a beautiful, golden glow. It’s incredibly flattering for portraits because it minimizes harsh shadows on the face.
How to do it: Get your subject (a friend, family member, or even yourself for a self-portrait) outside during this period. Position them so the sun is lighting up one side of their face, creating gentle shadows on the other. This adds depth and dimension. Pay attention to the background; the warm light makes even simple locations look spectacular.
Pro Tip: Try shooting with a wide aperture (a low f-number like f/2.8 or f/4) if your camera allows. This will help blur the background and make your subject pop, creating that dreamy, professional-looking portrait.
2. The Moody Blue Hour Landscape
What it is: The blue hour occurs right before sunrise and just after sunset, bookending the golden hour. The sun is below the horizon, but its light is still scattered in the atmosphere, casting a cool, blue, and incredibly serene ambient light over the landscape. It's perfect for moody, atmospheric shots of cityscapes or natural scenes.
How to do it: Find a location with an interesting skyline or landscape. As the sun dips below the horizon and the golden light fades, the sky will transition into deep shades of blue and purple. If you’re shooting a city, this is when the building lights start to twinkle, creating a beautiful contrast against the cool sky.
Pro Tip: Because the light is low, you'll need a steady hand. Brace your camera on a wall, a railing, or a beanbag to avoid camera shake. Use a slightly higher ISO if needed, but try to keep it as low as possible to minimize noise.
3. The Dramatic Midday Shadow
What it is: Photographers are often told to avoid shooting in the middle of the day when the sun is high and harsh. I say, lean into it! This harsh light creates deep, defined, and dramatic shadows. This challenge is about making the shadow the main subject of your photo, not the object casting it.
How to do it: Go for a walk around noon on a sunny day. Look for interesting patterns cast by trees, fences, buildings, or people. Think in terms of graphic shapes and strong lines. An empty wall or a clean stretch of pavement can become your canvas.
Pro Tip: Convert your photo to black and white during editing. This removes the distraction of color and emphasizes the graphic quality of the light and shadow, creating a powerful, high-contrast image.
4. The Angelic Rim Light Effect
What it is: Rim light, or backlighting, happens when your light source (the sun) is directly behind your subject. This creates a bright, glowing outline around their hair and shoulders, separating them from the background and giving them an almost angelic halo.
How to do it: Position your subject with the sun directly behind them. You'll need to expose for your subject's face, not the bright background. On most cameras, you can do this by pointing your camera at their face, half-pressing the shutter to lock focus and exposure, and then recomposing your shot. You may need to use your camera’s exposure compensation setting (+1 or +2) to brighten your subject properly.
Pro Tip: This effect is most beautiful during the golden hour when the sun is low. The warm light creates a stunning golden rim around your subject. It's a technique that photographers like Goh Ling Yong often use to add a touch of magic to their portraits.
5. The Timeless Window Light Portrait
What it is: A large window is a beginner's best friend. It acts like a giant, beautiful softbox, providing soft, diffused light that is perfect for portraits, food photography, or still life. The light falls off gradually, creating gentle shadows and a classic, painterly look.
How to do it: Place your subject near a window, but not in direct, harsh sunlight. Have them turn so the window light illuminates one side of their face. You can have them face the window for a flat, bright look, or turn 45-90 degrees for more dramatic, shaping shadows (this is called Rembrandt lighting if you see a little triangle of light on their cheek).
Pro Tip: To control the shadows, you can use a simple piece of white foam board or even a large sheet of paper on the opposite side of your subject from the window. This will bounce some light back into the shadows, softening the look.
6. The Iconic Sunset Silhouette
What it is: A silhouette is created when you place your subject in front of a much brighter background and expose for the background. This turns your subject into a dark, featureless shape against a vibrant sky, emphasizing their form and outline.
How to do it: During a colorful sunrise or sunset, position your subject (a person, a tree, a building) in front of the brightest part of the sky. Point your camera at the sky, lock your exposure on the bright colors, and then frame your shot with the subject in place. Your camera will make the sky look properly exposed, which will automatically render your subject as a dark silhouette.
Pro Tip: The best silhouettes have a clean, recognizable shape. Ask your subject to stand in profile or strike a dynamic pose (like jumping or reaching) to create a more interesting and clearly defined outline.
7. Chasing God Rays (Crepuscular Rays)
What it is: These are the beautiful beams of light that seem to stream down from the sky, often seen breaking through clouds on a hazy day or filtering through trees in a forest. They add a sense of awe, drama, and magic to a scene.
How to do it: This challenge is all about observation and timing. Look for these rays on slightly foggy or hazy mornings, or when the sun is breaking through storm clouds. In a forest, you'll often see them in the early morning or late afternoon when the sun is at a low angle.
Pro Tip: To make the rays more visible in your photo, find a darker background to contrast them against. Expose for the brighter part of the scene (the rays themselves) to ensure they are well-defined and not blown out.
8. The Mirrored World in Reflections
What it is: After a rain shower, the world is filled with mirrors. Puddles, wet streets, and even droplets on a leaf can create stunning reflections. This challenge forces you to change your perspective and look down for hidden compositions.
How to do it: Go out right after it rains. Get your camera low to the ground to get a clean reflection in a puddle. You can capture a reflection of a building, a person walking by, or the colorful sky. The key is to find a still puddle that offers a clear, mirror-like surface.
Pro Tip: Experiment with your focus. You can focus on the reflection itself for a surreal look, or on the edge of the puddle to include both the real world and the reflected world in your frame.
9. Abstract Shadow Play
What it is: Similar to the midday shadow challenge, but this one is about finding abstract patterns. Look for the way light and shadow interact to create interesting, non-representational shapes on walls, floors, and other surfaces. The shadow of a plant’s leaves, a window blind, or a bicycle can become a work of art.
How to do it: Walk around your house or neighborhood and just look for patterns. The late afternoon is a great time for this, as the low sun creates long, stretched-out shadows. Isolate the pattern by filling your entire frame with it.
Pro Tip: Don't be afraid to tilt your camera to create more dynamic diagonal lines. The goal isn't to show what's casting the shadow, but to appreciate the beauty of the shadow itself.
10. Dappled Light Portraits
What it is: Dappled light is the spotty light you find under a tree on a sunny day, where sunlight filters through the leaves. It can be tricky to work with, but when used intentionally, it can create a beautiful, natural, and dynamic pattern on your subject.
How to do it: Place your subject under a tree where the light is filtering through. The key is to be selective about where the spots of light fall. Try to position them so a patch of light highlights their eye or cheek, adding a point of interest without being distracting.
Pro Tip: This is a perfect time to embrace a "less is more" approach. A single, well-placed spot of light on your subject’s face can be far more powerful than having them covered in a chaotic pattern.
11. Capturing Artistic Lens Flare
What it is: Lens flare occurs when a bright light source, like the sun, shines directly into your lens. While sometimes seen as a technical flaw, it can be used creatively to add a dreamy, warm, and atmospheric feel to your photos.
How to do it: Position your camera so the sun is just outside the frame or partially blocked by your subject or another object (like a tree or building). This will often create beautiful, colorful streaks and orbs of light across your image. Move your camera around slightly to see how the flare changes.
Pro Tip: Shooting with a wider aperture can enhance the look of the flare. Be careful not to look directly at the sun through your viewfinder! Use your camera's live view screen instead to compose your shot safely.
12. Streetlight Portraits at Night
What it is: You don't need daylight to find great light. City streetlights, neon signs, and shop windows create pockets of beautiful light at night. This challenge is about using these urban light sources to create moody and cinematic portraits.
How to do it: Find a well-lit area, like under a streetlight or in front of a bright storefront. Place your subject in the light and let the background fall into darkness. The light will be directional and can be quite hard, so experiment with having your subject face different angles to see how it shapes their features.
Pro Tip: To avoid camera shake in low light, increase your ISO (e.g., to 1600 or 3200) and use the widest aperture your lens has. This will let in as much light as possible, allowing for a faster shutter speed.
13. Candlelight Still Life
What it is: Go old-school with a classic light source: a candle. The light from a single flame is incredibly warm, soft, and intimate. It's perfect for creating a moody, timeless still life photo with simple objects from around your home.
How to do it: In a dark room, arrange a few simple objects—a book, a cup of tea, a piece of fruit. Place a single candle next to them. The flame will act as your key light, casting long, soft shadows. Brace your camera on a table or stack of books to keep it steady for the long exposure required.
Pro Tip: Use a piece of tinfoil or white paper on the opposite side of your objects to gently bounce some of the candlelight back, filling in the shadows just a little and revealing more detail.
14. Using a TV or Laptop Screen as a Light Source
What it is: The screens we use every day are powerful light sources. A TV, computer monitor, or tablet can cast a soft, colorful glow that's perfect for modern, tech-noir style portraits.
How to do it: In a dark room, have your subject sit in front of a laptop or TV. Pull up a colorful, bright image on the screen (a solid blue or red screen works well). The screen's light will be the only illumination on their face. This creates a really cool, contemporary vibe.
Pro Tip: The color of the light will dramatically affect the mood. A blue screen will feel cool and futuristic, while a warm orange or red screen can feel more intense or intimate. Experiment with different colors to see how they change the story of your photo.
15. Capturing Light Trails on a Stable Surface
What it is: This involves using a slow shutter speed to capture the movement of lights, like car headlights and taillights, as streaks across your frame. While a tripod is ideal, you can achieve this by finding a perfectly stable surface.
How to do it: Find a safe spot overlooking a busy road at night, like a pedestrian bridge or a multi-story car park. Set your camera on a solid wall or the ground. Switch your camera to Shutter Priority mode (S or Tv) and set a slow shutter speed—start with 2-5 seconds. Press the shutter and watch as the moving cars paint lines of light across your photo.
Pro Tip: Use your camera's 2-second self-timer. This prevents the camera shake caused by you pressing the shutter button, ensuring your background is tack sharp and only the lights are blurred.
16. The Indoor Sunbeam Hunt
What it is: On a sunny day, look for the way light streams through a window and creates a distinct, bright patch on the floor or a wall. This "sunbeam" is your stage. The challenge is to place a subject—a person, a pet, a simple object—within that specific pool of light.
How to do it: This is an exercise in patience. Observe how the light moves through your home during the day. When you find a strong, defined sunbeam, place your subject in it. Expose for the bright light on your subject, which will make the surrounding, darker parts of the room even more shadowy and dramatic.
Pro Tip: Adding a little dust or haze to the air (safely, of course—you can clap two dusty rags together out of frame) can make the beam of light itself visible, creating an even more magical effect.
17. High Key with Natural Light
What it is: A "high key" image is one that is very bright and contains mostly light tones and colors, with very few dark shadows. It creates a feeling of optimism, happiness, and airiness. You can create this look without studio lights by using a large, bright light source.
How to do it: Place your subject in front of a very bright background, like an overcast sky or a large, sunlit window. You want the background to be much brighter than your subject. Then, use exposure compensation to deliberately overexpose the image slightly (+1 or +1.5). This will blow out the background to pure white and give your subject a soft, bright look.
Pro Tip: This works best on overcast days, as the clouds act as a massive diffuser, creating soft, even light with minimal shadows.
18. Low Key with Natural Light
What it is: The opposite of high key, a "low key" image is dark, moody, and full of deep shadows and dark tones. It creates a sense of mystery, drama, and intimacy. The key is to have a very small, controlled light source.
How to do it: Find a single, small source of light in a dark room—perhaps a sliver of light coming through a mostly-closed door or a small, uncovered part of a window. Place your subject so that only a small part of them is illuminated by this light. Expose for the bright highlights, which will plunge the rest of the scene into deep shadow.
Pro Tip: Have your subject wear dark clothing to help them blend into the shadows, making the small area of light on their face or hands even more impactful.
19. Highlighting Texture with Sidelight
What it is: Light that comes from the side, parallel to a surface, is fantastic for revealing texture. It creates tiny highlights and shadows across a surface, making details like the grain of wood, the weave of fabric, or the wrinkles on a face pop.
How to do it: Find a textured surface (a brick wall, a piece of old wood, a thick sweater). Position it so that your main light source (like a window or the low sun) is hitting it from the side. Get your camera close and at a low angle to the surface to exaggerate the effect.
Pro Tip: This technique is incredible for food photography. Sidelight on a loaf of bread will make the crust look incredibly crunchy and detailed. In a portrait, it can be used to create a rugged, character-filled look.
20. Finding the Beauty in Overcast Light
What it is: Don't put your camera away on a grey, cloudy day! An overcast sky is nature's largest softbox. It provides incredibly soft, even, and flattering light because the clouds diffuse the harsh sun. This light is perfect for portraits and for capturing rich, saturated colors in nature.
How to do it: Take a portrait outside on a cloudy day. Notice how there are almost no harsh shadows on your subject's face. For nature, this light is perfect for photographing flowers or autumn leaves, as the lack of harsh highlights and shadows allows their colors to appear deep and saturated.
Pro Tip: Because the light is so even, your images might lack a bit of contrast straight out of the camera. Don't be afraid to add a touch of contrast and vibrancy during editing to make the colors and details truly shine. It's a simple step that elevates a good photo into a great one.
Your Turn to Chase the Light
There you have it—20 challenges to transform the way you see and use light. Photography isn't about having the most expensive gear; it's about having a trained eye. By actively practicing these techniques, you'll stop just taking pictures and start making them. You'll learn to anticipate how light will behave, how it will shape your subject, and how it will tell your story.
So, pick a challenge that excites you, grab your camera, and start chasing the light. Don't worry about perfection. The goal is to experiment, learn, and have fun in the process.
Which challenge are you going to try first? Let me know in the comments below! And if you share your results on social media, be sure to tag us so we can see the stunning images you create. Happy shooting
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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