In spite of rain and dark clouds, our window light portraits were a success! To make up for the darker skies, we had to adjust our ISO's to 400, and some may have switched to 800. We turned the flash off so we could use natural, ambient light. When doing window light portraits, it is important to have your subject as close to the light source as possible (especially when it is over-cast outside). Choose a window that DOES NOT have light streaming directly in. We're after natural, ambient light. Have your subject facing the light, or have the light coming from the side. Many of us needed to compensate exposure by setting the exposure compensation to -1 f-stop. This will look like a number line with a zero in the middle and a -2 on the far left side and +2 on the far right. We also used +2 to over-expose when our subject was in front of the window and we were shooting from behind. This helped us see that over-exposing can make the subjects look fine, while "blowing out" the background, making it appear white. This is nice to experiment with to help you realize what happens when you use both sides of the exposure compensation. For some of the portraits, we bounced light back onto the subject using a reflector. A silver reflector worked well for these cloudy days. On clear days, I usually use a white reflector--the silver is too strong. If the walls in your room are white, they may be sufficient for bouncing light back onto your subject.
When taking portraits by window light, watch the eyes and make sure they have catch lights. Be sure to lock your focus on their pupil (push the shutter button half way), then compose the picture. For some portraits, we draped a black cloth behind, for others we used white; for some, we didn't use a background and let the furnishings in the room serve as background, faded out in the background.
Below, you'll find our task sheet. It has a variety of tasks, so if you are not comfortable doing all of them, choose the ones you feel you are ready for, and don't get frustrated if you aren't familiar with some of the tasks. Feel free to email if you have any questions.
Window light Portraits
Task Sheet
Exposure compensation:
Same shot, -2,-1,0,+1,+2
Facing window
Window to the side
Window showing
With dark backdrop (low key)
With light backdrop (high key)
With reflector on opposite side
Detailed shot (prop, jewelry, toy)
Baby body parts (toes, grasp)
Angled shot
Candid
Worms eye view
Bird’s eye view
Silhouette (no flash)
Metering – spot, center
Exposure lock *
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