Pixiq

Many studio flash lighting techniques can be mimicked very easily using natural light coming through a window.

When I work on location, whether it’s in a client’s home or an office, I try to use natural window light; not only does window light give a different mood than studio flash, but that mood also changes at different times of day as it combines with the ambient light in the room. The lighting effect from a window can range from a soft, romantic warm glow in early evening to a harsh, theatrical effect in the middle of the day when the window is in strong sunlight. The quantity and the quality of the light coming through the window also depends on the size and shape of the window.

I usually use the largest window in the home, because if there is enough light to light a full-length portrait then there will also be enough light to shoot small groups and head-and-shoulders shots.

If the room is going to be a part of the setting, make sure that you can place your subject not only near the window but also further into the room. This gives you flexibility: since the light falls off the further away from the window you get, being able to move your subject will allow you some control over the intensity of the light.

You can soften and diffuse window light by covering the window with a translucent material such as voile. This gives a quality of light similar to that produced by a soft box; the only disadvantage is that you cannot control the angle of the sunlight, as this depends on the time of day.

When the sun is strong and streaming through a window, the effect is similar to spot lighting in terms of both shape, which is controlled by the shape of the window, and intensity and contrast. On a very sunny day, place a diffusion reflector panel in the window in order to reduce the intensity.

If your subject is backlit, you have to choose whether to meter for the subject and risk overexposing the background, or to meter for the background, which could easily lead to the subject being underexposed. If you decide to meter for the subject, take a meter reading very close to the subject, as this will avoid the backlighting giving a false reading. If you use a reflector, take the reading with the reflector panel in place—otherwise the extra light that you gain from introducing the reflector will result in the subject being overexposed.

Backlit Subjects

One of the problems of backlighting is that the main subject can appear underexposed. This series shows how simple it is to balance the exposure by using fill-in flash.

Light from behind: Because most of the light is coming from behind, the light on the face is  soft and lacking in contrast. This is similar to a high-key studio set-up in which the background is lit too brightly.

Adding Light: To balance the exposure on the skin tone a little better, I used a speedlight on the camera, set to automatic.

Adding Modeling

Diffused window light can sometimes create a flat-lit image. As the light source cannot be moved, the only way to create more modeling is to move the subject.

Flat lighting:  The window position and the direction of the subject’s gaze have combined to produce a flat-lit image.

Turning the head to create modeling: When the subject turns her face toward the camera, some shadow is created on the side furthest from the window. This instantly creates modeling on the face.

Tip: 

When the sun is high in the sky, the light coming through a window is at a more acute angle —so the subject will need to be lower than the window, seated on a chair or on the floor, in order to be in the brightest part of the light. The subject will also need to tilt his or her head up toward the light to illuminate the face and avoid any harsh shadow in the eyes.

Position a white reflector panel underneath the camera and pointing toward the subject to reflect the light, tilting it back toward the window to control shadow detail.