Brighten Your Day With These 21 Natural Light Photos

1. Photo by Edwin Estrada

   "The artist's stance."

   

2. 

3. 

4. Photo by Andrew R. Simoneaux

   "Cheeto all up in that window."

   

5. 

6. Photo by wogwog

   "Sunrise over Adams."

   

7. Photo by mid0

   "Looking out of the window at Rejkjavik, Iceland."

   

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. Photo by Andrie W.

    "Fog central Santa Monica."

    

13. 

14. Photo by Patricia Hirschfield

    "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Lao Tzu

    

15. 

16. Photo by Lindsay Appel

    "Amazing, amazing waterfall hike today."

    

17. 

18. 

19. Photo by Jeremy Roberts

    "A dust storm."

    

20. 

21. Photo by Steven Moore

    "Just around the corner it's going to get better than this - NOT."

    

When it feels like all the photos in your social feeds have been altered by a filter or perfected with editing software, a moment illuminated by completely natural light can be a welcome change of scene.

We asked for your best photos taken using only natural light as part of the Mashable Photo Challenge. We received just under 900 submissions, a new record for the Photo Challenge, making it difficult to narrow it down to these 21. Our guest curator, Santiago PerezGrovas, chose a few of his favorites based on composition and creativity.

Check out the top pictures above, and check out the rest of the amazing submissions here.

If your photo wasn't featured this time, try again in our next challenge: far, far away.

The Mashable Photo Challenge Guest Series

• 7 Stunning Photos Inspired by Song Lyrics

BONUS: Photo Tips for the Digital Age

1. Experiment with natural light

   One of our guest curators, Santiago PerezGrovas uses natural light to shoot his photos. What began as a limitation (he didn't know how to uses professional flashes) became his signature style.

   "In a world of perfection, the production of the photos we see everyday is overwhelming, to the point that everything has to be flawless," says Santiago. "I limit myself to use a simple camera, a model and the available light at the moment."

   Image courtesy of Santiago PerezGrovas

   

2. 

3. 

Home page image courtesy of Blair Simpson