Better indoor photos
With many of us being confined to our homes & the weather not being the best, we've got to find different things to do, learn,etc.
If you are interested in photography as a hobby, or just to get better pictures of your family, here are some tips for getting beautiful Window light portraits!
1. Find a large window in your home. If it's a cloudy day, pull the blinds or curtains up. If it's sunny, place some white or beige sheers(if you have them) over the window. Do not try this if there is direct sunlight shining in. Wait for another time of day. If it is a north facing window, anytime of day is fine. This is best between the hours of 10:00 A.M. & 2:00 P.M. to ensure plenty of light. This window will act as a large soft box such as you would see in a portrait studio.
2. Clear any clutter from the background (you may want to stick with a close-up for this reason).
3. Place your subject at the edge of the window light, just back from the edge of it slightly so the window light can wrap around their body as much as possible. For instance, they will not face the window directly, they would be perpendicular to it, with one side of their body (shoulder, arm) facing the window, if that makes sense.
4. If you have a large white board, such as a poster board, or something of that nature you will want to have someone hold that up on the opposite side of the window. This will bounce light back from the window and hit the opposite side of the subjects body furthest away from the window, so that the shadow on that side is not too dark. You may also cover a large piece of cardboard with aluminum foil to use as a reflector. This will reflect even more light back. The closer you place it to them the more the reflected light will fill in the shadow side. If you don't have either, try turning the subjects face a little more towards the window to ensure that at least 2/3 to 3/4 of their face is lit by the window light.
5. One last thing you can try is putting the window behind the subject. You would then have to bounce a lot of light from the window back at them. I use 1- 4'x7' large whiteboard on either side of the subject in this case.
You can try these things with your cell phones as well. The cameras in cell phones are very advanced now. So much is about the light. If you will try using these tips, you will see a huge difference in the quality of a photo you can take even with a cell phone!
Hope this was helpful and interesting to someone.
All of the photographs above were taken that way. The main difference is that I have 2 huge 4'x7' white boards on the opposite side of the window which bounces a lot more light back.
