Hennes kusin är fotograf och säger att man måste vänta på rätt ljus.

Hennes means her and refers to some woman or girl.

Swedish sin/sitt/sina is a special reflexive possessive that refers back to the subject of the clause. In this sentence, the subject is hennes kusin (her cousin), so sin could not refer to the her in hennes.

So:

• hennes kusin = her cousin
• sin kusin would mean his/her own cousin, referring back to the subject of that clause

For example:

• Hon älskar sin kusin. = She loves her own cousin.
• Hon älskar hennes kusin. = She loves her cousin (someone else’s cousin).

Kusin can mean either male cousin or female cousin. It is gender-neutral in ordinary Swedish.

If you need to make the gender explicit, Swedish can use:

• manlig kusin = male cousin
• kvinnlig kusin = female cousin

But most of the time, just kusin is enough.

After vara (to be), Swedish usually leaves out the article when talking about someone’s profession, role, nationality, or religion.

So you say:

• Hon är lärare. = She is a teacher.
• Han är fotograf. = He is a photographer.
• Jag är student. = I am a student.

Using en is not impossible in all contexts, but it often sounds more specific or emphatic. In a basic statement about someone’s job, no article is the normal choice.

Right. Here man is the Swedish indefinite pronoun, meaning something like:

• one
• you
• people
• they (in a general sense)

So man måste vänta means:

• one must wait
• you have to wait
• people have to wait

This is very common in Swedish.

Examples:

• Man säger att... = People say that...
• Man måste tänka på säkerheten. = You have to think about safety.

It can mean both, depending on context.

• must
• have to

In natural English, have to is often the smoother translation, even though must is closer word-for-word.

So man måste vänta på rätt ljus could be understood as:

• one must wait for the right light
• you have to wait for the right light

The Swedish verb is måste, from måste / måste as the modal form of måste? More precisely, learners usually just learn måste as the modal verb meaning must/have to, since it does not behave like a normal infinitive-present pair in everyday use.

Because måste is a modal verb, and modal verbs are followed by the bare infinitive in Swedish.

So:

• måste vänta = must wait
• kan komma = can come
• vill äta = want to eat
• ska gå = will/is going to go

You do not say:

• måste att vänta ❌

The att in the sentence belongs to säger att = says that, not to vänta.

Because the Swedish verb for wait for is vänta på.

English uses:

• wait for something

Swedish uses:

• vänta på något

So:

• vänta på bussen = wait for the bus
• vänta på svar = wait for an answer
• vänta på rätt ljus = wait for the right light

This is just something you have to learn with the verb. Vänta by itself means wait, but when you say what you are waiting for, på is normally used.

Here rätt means right/correct, and it agrees with ljus, which is an ett-word:

• ett ljus

For an ett-word in the indefinite singular, the adjective usually takes -tt:

• ett bra foto
• ett fint hus
• ett rätt ljus

So:

• rätt ljus = right light

Compare:

• en bra kamera
• ett bra foto

Also, ljus here is being used in a general sense, not as a specific already-identified light source, so the indefinite form makes sense.

Here ljus means light as in lighting or illumination.

That is especially common in photography, painting, and film contexts.

Be careful: ljus can mean more than one thing in Swedish, depending on context. For example, it can also refer to:

• light (not dark) as an adjective
• candle as a noun in some contexts

But in this sentence, because the speaker is a photographer and is waiting for rätt ljus, it clearly means the right lighting / the right light.

Because after att, Swedish uses subordinate clause word order.

In a main clause, Swedish often has the finite verb in second position:

• Han säger...
• Nu väntar hon...

But in a subordinate clause introduced by att, the subject usually comes before the finite verb:

• att man måste vänta
• att hon kommer
• att de arbetar här

So att man måste vänta is the normal structure.

Säger is the present tense of säga (to say).

So:

• säga = to say
• säger = says / is saying

In Swedish, the present tense is often used where English might also use the present simple:

• Hon säger att... = She says that...

It can describe something habitual, generally true, or something being said now, depending on context. Here it likely means that the cousin says this as a general truth about photography.

Yes, absolutely. That is often the most natural English translation.

Swedish man is frequently translated into English as:

• you
• people
• one

depending on what sounds natural.

So all of these can work:

• one must wait for the right light
• you have to wait for the right light
• people have to wait for the right light

The Swedish sentence itself is general, not directed at one specific person.