I have a photo studio full of professional lighting equipment and lots of other tools to make a portrait look perfect. But sometimes it's better and a lot more spontaneous to create a beautiful portrait or still life using natural light. 

Tip: Find a window and place your subject (person, animal or object) next to it. The window light becomes your light source and allows you to capture soft, beautiful light (especially on an overcast or cloudy day). If you can, turn off your flash.  If not, change your angle just enough so that the flash doesn't fire.  Place your subject at an angle so that the light splits the face, with just a little spill on the opposite cheek and you will have stunning "Rembrant" lighting.

Example: Recently, I was in Toronto  with The Wave's Mary Kirk. It was a very cloudy day. While we were touring a quaint area with lots of little shops and galleries, I spotted this great window seat. ~By the way: I was using a "point and shoot" style camera, not a pro camera.~ Mary agreed to be my model, and I really love how the photo turned out.