Outdoor lighting: is this natural light or a graphic effect?

Question

I'd love to be able to reproduce this kind of dreamy, soft outdoor light that almost looks like mist:

Photo by Sonia Aloisi (source).
How much would you say this is natural light? I'd say the bokeh feels natural but I have no idea how to achieve the "mist-like" effect all around the heads.

Tetsujin · Accepted Answer

I'd say this was done [or certainly could be done] intentionally in camera. The warm pinkish-orangeish light is likely to be done in post these days, but it's possible to do it with a physical filter.
There's actual mist, to throw you off, but it looks like it was just shot straight into a weak sun. This would produce the lens flare [the big circle & stripes from the top] & also veiling glare, which adds to the mistiness around their faces. See How can I intentionally include lens flare in my photographs? and What is "veiling glare"? How does it affect my photos, and how can I avoid it?
It's possible there may be some front fill with flash, but not a lot, or it would start to hide the translucency of the dress.

silverrahul · Answer

I feel this has some post processing, but most of that "misty" effect is due to the angle of the sun relative to the subject. The sunlight bleeds around the edges of the subject and creates that effect. It is generally something people want to avoid. I have had this effect ruin many shots when i try to photograph someone with sunset in the background. The effect of the "mist" washes out all details from the face. And most of the time, it is something i would want to avoid.
It looks good, in this example, because those are 2 beautiful people, in beautiful outfits in front of a beautiful landscape with a beautiful pose.
I get the exact same effect when trying to photograph my ugly friend in front of a boring landscape, and i mostly discard those photos.

Rajendra V · Answer

It is natural light. But there is lot of post processing to enhance the light and exposure etc. The RAW or unprocessed will certainly not produce this effect. It doesn't seems to have any effect included, as there is nothing that cannot be done naturally. But certainly you can see there is post processing of photo involved.

Answered by Rajendra V on August 17, 2021

Outdoor lighting: is this natural light or a graphic effect?

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