You can treat light like any other measurable variable. Grab a handheld light meter or use your phone’s sensor and log lux values for the conditions you like. Pair that with the exposure triangle – ISO, shutter speed, aperture – and you get a reproducible recipe. If you’re chasing a specific mood, note the color temperature in Kelvin and the angle of the sun or fill light. Then create a simple spreadsheet or app where you drop the lux and the camera settings, and the table will tell you “this is the closest to the target you want.” Keep refining it, drop in the same conditions, and you’ll see the “perfect” light become predictable, not elusive.