Here are five ways to use window light for creating portraits. For all of these, it's best to try to turn off any lights you have in the room and just use the light you are getting from the window, otherwise you are going to find white balance tricky. Also, try to make sure that the sun is not shining directly in your window, as you will have harsh light instead of nice soft flattering light (although you can try to use this if you want to!) - generally north and south facing windows are best, but you will get good light from windows facing other directions but it might not be all day.
You can place your subject by the window in different ways depending on the look you are going for. I'm using an egg to demonstrate today (more on this later) as it's great at really showing the light and shadow.
- 45 Degree Lighting
This is how you would traditionally light your subject using window light. With this, you get soft directional light on the face, with slight shadowing on one side of the face, and nice catch lights in the eyes. As you can see from the example above, there is only slight shadowing about a quarter of the subject - the rest is beautifully lit. This shadowing helps add depth and dimension to a portrait. You will also still get catchlights in both the eyes by lighting this way. To achieve this look, simply move your subject so that they are facing 45 degrees from the window. (Think of your window pane as being at zero, make a pretend line at 45 degrees and place your subject there)
- Dramatic Lighting
If you move your subject so that they are 90 degrees to the window, but sitting parellel with it then you will get "split" lighting - where one side will be well-lit, and the other will fall deeply into shadow from the middle of the face -you can see this quite clearly in the example above. As I said above, shadows add dimension to a portrait - the more shadowing there is the more dramatic the resulting photo will be. These types of photo tend to look more moody, and look particularly great in black and white. For this, you want to place your subject so they are sitting directly parallel to the window so the light is only hitting one side, and make sure you expose for the highlighted side of the face using spot metering.
You can also have your subject face into the window which will give nice even lighting on the face and terrific catchlights. Some people may find this type of lighting flat and lacking in interest, I personally quite like it - I think it's all personal taste. For this, get your subject to face into the window and get yourself between the window and the subject, being careful not the block the light. The closer your subject is to the window, the softer the light will be.
Silhouette
You can also get great silhouettes by using window light. Have your subject get right up close to the window, and meter for the window light, not for the subject (you'll need to use Manual for this) Then refocus on your subject, making sure not to change the meter readings (which will be way off) It's that simple to create a silhouette!
Back-Lit
Lastly, you can get a back-lit image by placing your subject in front of the window but facing away from it. You will get a rim light around the head, and you might want to reflect a little light back onto the face using a reflector. The window will be completely blown out (i.e completely white) but that's fine as long as your subject is correctly exposed. You will need to use spot metering, and meter for your subject - otherwise they will be under-exposed.
And now onto the explanation for why I used an egg. The humble egg is actually used a lot in art and photography classes as a way of getting students to see where the light is coming from, how shadows are formed, and how a difference in position of either the light or the subject can make to your end result. You might feel a little silly doing it, but take an egg and put it on a table near a window, then move your egg in relation to the light source until you can confidently create 45 degree, split and even lighting. (You can also watch this video from digital photography school about using the egg to see the light) It is also much easier to practice different lighting situations with an egg than with your child - you can see how the light falls in different rooms, which angle gives you the best background to work with etc. If you have young kids, then the chances are they are not going to happily sit whilst you work out the best angle (not a chance with mine!) so you'll just have to take what you can get!
I hope this has given you a couple of ideas for how to photograph using window light!
I hope this has given you a couple of ideas for how to photograph using window light!
12 comments:
Hi Audrey, I was hoping for a post like this, because I really like to use window light but was getting confused about how to use it properly. I read this over a few times because I didn't quite get the 45 degree lighting and the dramatic lighting but I think I actually do get it ;) I just gotta try it to make sure!
wow, this post is packed with incredible information!
Menucha, try the egg thing - I promise it really helps "get" the light and the angles etc.
Jan - you could have written this article, you are much better at this than me!
Audrey, I'm going to try it. I didn't want to hijack your fb page, I realized after I commented maybe its better to post that question here.. So basically I really like how that photo of Callum is dark with the light on his face, I'm assuming that's window light on his face, but how do you do get the whole dark part? Is this all edited in pp? If so, how is it done? I would love to get this look! All my photos are so bright and I wanna learn how to do that.. Can you share your secrets ;)
Hi Menucha, I answered on the FB page - don't ever worry about hijacking it that's what the page is there for! In fact, I love it when people post photos, or ask questions (or just tell me I'm lovely) on the facebook page as it seems less like I am speaking into the wilderness! Anyway to answer you question, check back on the FB page, but I think it might be an idea to write this up in a post anyway - it's maybe easier to see it with pictures. Will try to do soon x
You are never talking into the wilderness!!! Writing it up in a post would def be a great idea ;) I'm still trying to get my head around actually doing (not understanding the concept but practically doing) spot metering.. it's taking a while.. But I must figure it out because when I get a shot like the one you posted I will be verryyyyy proud ;) I'm not giving up!
Audrey, I would also love a post on how you get your black and white images, they always look so crisp but soft at the same time, do you know what I mean?
I also wanted to ask you, do you know where I could get some actions for PSD either for free, or a small package to try out. I looked at the florbellacollection, but they are very pricey because they are big packages. I've never actually used actions in PSD so at this point I don't want to buy a whole package, rather just a few individual ones, or find some good free ones (if that exists) any suggestions?
Menucha, is it basic workflow actions you are after (i.e fixing color casts, contrast, exposure etc) or the more artistic ones that maybe give you vintage colours etc?
I'd like to get both. With the more artistic ones I want ones specifically good for child photography (enhance photos of my kids) not necessarily vintage but like nice black and whites or ones that give an extra punch to the face, or color in general you know what I mean? I'm not exactly sure what I want bec I've never used them so I don't know what's out there but jan mentioned some presets she uses in Lightroom that are really great, I think they were "baby love" so wanted to try something like that.
I'm not sure of anywhere that does free basic workflow actions - these tend to be big packages because you need ones for white balance, exposure, sharpening etc etc. I've seen some freebies on MCP Actions and Paint the Moon but more artistic - might help you too see if Actions are for you though? Hope that helps!
Ok thanks Audrey will check those ones out!
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