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April 2026

Apr 29

How to Use Natural Light: The Most Honest Tool in the Studio

By Education No Comments

There is a certain kind of image that feels effortless the moment you see it. Nothing is overworked, nothing feels imposed. The light just exists, and it is soft, dimensional, and quietly precise. More often than not, that’s natural light.

Before photography studios were filled with modifiers, strobes, and complex setups, there was simply the window. And it’s no coincidence that some of the most enduring portraits — from painting to early photography — were built around it. Natural light, instead of impressing you, reveals. And in a studio setting, that honesty becomes a powerful advantage.

At PL Photography Studio, this light comes primarily from south-facing skylight windows. Being on the top floor means the studio receives a consistent flow of daylight throughout the day, with direct sunlight strongest around midday. Unlike standard side windows, skylight windows create a more even, top-down illumination that fills the space while still allowing for shape and depth.

What makes this setup particularly effective is how responsive it is. Natural light is never static. It shifts with time, intensity, and weather. In the studio, you can work with these changes rather than against them.

Small adjustments make a significant difference. Rotating your subject will change how shadows fall across the face, while moving them in and out of brighter or softer areas of the space will affect contrast and definition. Shifting the backdrop also alters how much light it receives, subtly changing the overall tone and colour balance of the image.

That’s the part people often overlook: you’re not building light from scratch but shaping what’s already there. And psychologically, it does something important, too. Subjects tend to relax more in natural light. There’s no harsh flash, no interruption, no mechanical rhythm. The shoot flows. Expressions feel less performed and more observed. You get closer to something unforced — which, in portraiture, is usually the point.

How to work with it:

  • Start by uncovering the skylight windows and observing how the light drops into the space — it behaves differently from side windows, falling more vertically and evenly
  • Rotate your subject gradually — with the light coming from skylight windows, even subtle turns will shift shadows under the eyes, cheekbones, and jaw in a much more sculptural way
  • Move the backdrop incrementally — because the light is coming from above, small shifts will change how much light reaches it, subtly altering tone and separation
  • Use reflectors or bounce (floor or side) to reintroduce light into the face if needed
  • Experiment with partially drawing the curtains to diffuse or narrow the light — this gives you control over intensity and direction without artificial modifiers
  • Shoot at different times of day — top light evolves beautifully, from soft and ambient to more directional and dramatic

Natural light in this setting behaves differently. It is less obvious but far more sculptural once you understand it. It doesn’t flood the subject from the side; it carves from above. Which means you’re not just lighting a face but shaping structure. And once you start working with it, you realise something quite simple: you don’t always need more equipment. You just need to pay closer attention.

Practice this in a real studio setting
Our space is designed to make the most of natural light — giving you flexibility without complexity, and control without over-engineering.

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Apr 24

Miki Węcel: “I’m trying to find time to be good at a few different things.”

By Q&A No Comments

Miki Węcel is a photographer and musician whose practice moves fluidly between image and sound. For a long time, both disciplines have been the centre of his attention — less as separate paths than as parallel ways of working toward a single creative focus. His work reflects an ongoing commitment to shaping a life where these two practices are not occasional pursuits, but the core of what he does.

-What experience first made you realise you were an artist?
-I think that came very late; I never considered myself to be an artist until I joined the film industry by chance. Just being surrounded by so many people following their passions, I realised that maybe I too could do that, and I started looking for my thing (it’s always been music, though, really). At some point, I realised that I may have a bit of a knack for photography and decided that I had some catching up to do because I started so late, and I started to explore and learn.

-What does a typical day look like for you — in work and in life?
-I jump between a lot of things. I’m trying to find time to be good at a few different things to bring them together and form a cohesive visual world of sound and vision. I‘m also fighting against losing focus on what I should be doing. I often stay up late into the night and listen to weird electronic music and catch up on things then. Having headphones on and a lightweight beat definitely helps.

 

 

-What do you struggle with the most in your creative work, and how do you confront it?
-So, as I said above, I really struggle with focus and not just getting into a lengthy task, but also staying on it long enough to complete it in one sitting. I’ve been trying more and more to reduce the number of distractions in my life and find ways to squeeze the amount of time I have in a day to give more to learning my craft.

-Which ideas, people, or works have most influenced the way you think?

-More than any other it would be John Frusciante, just in his approach to music making, where everything has an idea, and each idea is explored, and there’s always a vision guiding it all. In terms of photography, though, first and foremost, I love Jack Davison’s work; it’s got a bit of silliness and lightness to it that at the same time can be gritty and raw. And possibly on a different side of the spectrum, I adore the compositions and attention to detail in Sarah Van Rij’s photographs; that’s the kind of precision I aspire to have in my images.

-If you could change one thing about how people experience your work, what would it be?
-That’s an interesting question, and I guess maybe it would be for them to try to see something else within the frame. There’s often a story in my head that explains the composition of the photo, maybe it’s the interaction between two objects or the way something fills the frame that suggests something about how it wants to be looked at.

Where to find Miki: https://www.instagram.com/mikiwecel

Interested in being interviewed for our blog or know someone who would like to be featured? Please reach out to us directly to explore any possibilities:
[email protected]

To stay informed about the studio’s activities, sign up for our newsletter here.

Apr 01

Rembrandt Lighting: The Triangle That Changed Portraiture Forever

By Education No Comments

One of the easiest ways to recognise Rembrandt lighting is by a small but striking detail: a triangle of light on the shadow side of the face. Once you see it, it’s impossible to unsee it — it’s ubiquitous, from classical paintings to modern photography.

The technique is named after Dutch master Rembrandt, who, back in the 17th century, mastered the use of light not just to illuminate his subjects, but also to reveal mood, psychology, and that undeniable Baroque tension. In many of Rembrandt’s portraits, light doesn’t simply show the face; it sculpts it, leaving parts in shadow and drawing attention to what matters.

Rembrandt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

That same principle translates directly into photography.

In the studio, Rembrandt lighting is created by placing a single light source at roughly a 45-degree angle from the subject and slightly above eye level. When positioned correctly, it produces that signature triangle of light beneath the eye on the shadowed cheek.

But what makes this setup so enduring isn’t just the visual effect but what it does psychologically.

By allowing part of the face to fall into shadow, you introduce depth, ambiguity, and intimacy. The subject feels less flat, more present, almost cinematic. It’s a subtle shift, but it’s often the difference between a technically correct portrait and one that feels alive.

At the studio, this is one of the simplest ways to elevate a shoot without adding complexity. A single light, carefully placed, can transform the entire mood of an image.

How to achieve it: 

  • You can achieve this using one light: strobe, softbox, or even window light (we have plenty of natural light!)
  • Position your light source to the side of your subject (around 45°)
  • Raise it slightly above eye level
  • Adjust until a small triangle of light appears on the shadowed cheek
  • A reflector can be used to soften the shadows on the dark side of the face without eliminating the triangle
  • A smaller, more distant light source creates a more defined, harsh triangle, while a larger softbox produces a softer, more subtle effect.
Small movements matter here — even a few centimetres can change the balance between light and shadow.

Rembrandt lighting has lasted for centuries because it does something very simple, very well: it makes faces feel dimensional, expressive, and human. And in photography, that’s still the goal.

Practice this in a real studio setting

Our workshops and photography school focus on building confidence with light from the ground up — through hands-on practice and guided experimentation.

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Apr 01

Hanna Lautreamont: “What matters is that something remains with the viewer.”

By Q&A No Comments

Hanna Lautreamont: “What matters is that something remains with the viewer.”

Hanna Lautreamont is a London-based artist who also holds a Master’s degree in languages and the history of Western literature. She works with analogue photography, treating each image as a physical object. Her practice bridges photography and printmaking, focusing on process, texture, and presence rather than perfection.

Hi Hanna. Can you tell us what experience first made you realise you were an artist?
I don’t think there was a single moment of realisation. If anything, my first exhibition in Cadaqués, Catalonia, made me more aware of the distance between making works and becoming aware of them. Seeing the work outside of a private context changes it; it becomes something independent, something you are no longer fully in control of. I’m still cautious about defining myself too clearly. It feels more accurate to think of it as an ongoing process rather than a fixed identity.

What does a typical day look like for you — in work and in life?
There isn’t really a fixed routine; my daily schedule depends on the stage of a project. Some days are structured around shooting and working with people, which requires a very outward energy. Others are much more internal and include developing ideas, researching, or building visual references. A significant part of my time is spent printing, either in the darkroom or working on photogravures in the workshop, where the process becomes slower and more tactile.

Alongside my own work, I maintain a freelance practice, so there’s a constant negotiation between personal projects and commissioned work. Outside of that, I try to stay engaged with other forms of art and with people by visiting galleries, reading, or having conversations with friends.

What do you struggle with the most in your creative work, and how do you confront it?
One of the main challenges in my practice is recognising when an image is complete. Because I work with analogue and hand-printing processes, there is always the possibility to continue refining, adjusting, re-printing, and reworking prints. The difficulty lies in understanding when those interventions still contribute to the image, and when they begin to take something away. I try to approach this by allowing distance. My method is stepping away from the work and returning to it with a clearer perspective. It’s less about producing a perfect image and more about preserving the essence of the image at the point when it feels most resolved.

Which ideas, people, or works have most influenced the way you think?
The people around me have a strong influence on how I think and work. I’m surrounded by individuals who are deeply committed to their own practices, and that level of focus sets a certain standard, which pushes me to be more precise and honest in what I do. Literature and poetry are central to my approach. My background in literature influences how I construct images. I’m interested in suggestions rather than direct statements, in atmosphere rather than explanation.

If you could change one thing about how people experience your work, what would it be?
It’s crucial for me that the viewer is given conceptual and physical space to look, to interpret, and to form their own response. I don’t intend my work to communicate fixed meanings. I hope my works may stage a moment of encounter and introspection, instead. What matters is that something remains with the viewer, whether that’s a feeling or a question.

Interested in being interviewed for our blog or know someone who would like to be featured? Please reach out to us directly to explore any possibilities:
[email protected]
To stay informed about the studio’s activities, sign up for our newsletter: