Good lighting is everything in portraiture. The right light sculpts our subjects, smooths the skin, evens skin tones, and helps create the feeling of a third dimension in a two-dimensional image. The gold standard of lighting has, for the better part of a century, been produced by artificial lights (hot lights or strobes) in the studio. These sources allow for precise lighting effects on demand. However, artificial light cannot match the beauty or ambience that gorgeous natural light creates—and studio lighting can break the bank.