Lighting is key to every photographer. The literal meaning of "photography" is light painting! There's two main kinds of lighting (in a VERY broad sense): natural and artificial. This time round I'll you of the benefits of natural lighting.
To me, natural lighting is just light that is natural, i.e the sun! No studio lights, no flash, no indoor electric lights, candles... I guess if I took photos by a forest wildfire that would be classed as natural light.
Anyway, one of the most obvious benefits of natural light is that it is freely available all day. Artificial lights, such as strobes and flashes, can be expensive especially for new photographers. Having a huge light source up in the sky is perfect to begin with if you don't have anything else. And even so, professionals who have been in the business for years still harness natural light for its full potential!
Another thing I love about natural lighting is how many different kinds there are. A bright midday sun in a blue sky is completely different from diffused sunlight from an overcast sky, and still different from the soft golden light of a sunset. The lighting changes the mood of photographs, and so in the space of a day a photographer can shoot so many styles and themes.
And this isn't just for portraits! Landscapes can look do different depending on the time of day
