It's not difficult to create a lovely portrait that your friend will love. If you have no flash and no studio lights, then why not consider window light?
First of all, create stunning portrait photography is not about camera settings. In fact, if you focus on camera settings as the way to take portraits, you will be disappointed. Camera settings are part of it, but not the whole part. By all means, take notice of your settings, but do not rely on them to be the whole answer to creating stunning portraiture.
Many enthusiast photographers stand in front of the window. They position their subject (friend) with their backs behind the window. What they should be doing is using the window light to light the subjects face. Sounds easy doesn't it? So why don't more photographers light portraits that way?
The simple answer is they do not understand light. The difference between an enthusiast photographer and a professional photographer is a solid, and very deep understanding, of light. If you are an enthusiast, and you have struggled with photography, don't feel bad.
Changing the white balance to suit your portrait is essential if you want to create beautifully warm and fresh skin tones. It's easy to create unsuitable colour tone through a lack of understanding about white balance and how it affects your friends skin tone. In this case do a custom white balance before you shoot.
Firstly, in order to create really stunning portrait photography you need to really look at the light. Is the light creating lots of hard shadows or is the light really nice and soft over the persons face? Hard light is the light you see on a very bright, sunny day that shows lots of bright areas and lots of dark shadows.
When you shoot portraits you can chose a variety of colour temperatures depending on the look and feel you are aiming for. If you want something upbeat and happy then you may chose a white colour temperature. This occurs with the sun being at the highest in the sky. If you want something soft and endearing you may choose to shoot when there are warm colours in the sky. Usually portraits look nice when the colour temperature is white.
You can actually change this hue on the camera. You can make it look blue, yellow or orange. This is called white balance. You can select this range of colour hues depending on the look and feel you are aiming for. If you want to create a romantic feel for your portrait then you may chose a orange colour temperature. This is kind of like the light you see at sunset or dawn. It can influence the way people feel when they look at the photo. Don't forget about a white colour temperature, such as the hue you see at midday. Usually portraits look nice when the colour temperature is white.
If you find that you still have too much shadow on the opposite side to the window, then try using a reflector. A reflector can bounce the light back onto the persons face to fill in the shadows. This works very well in some situations.
Window light can help soften shadows and provide an "all over" direction. This depends on whether the window light comes from the person's top and side and not directly from above. If you have lots of light from above then try and find a large window. This will help throw light on the persons face evenly. Once light is spread evenly across someone's face you will have a greater chance of softening the emotion of the photo.
When shooting a portrait using window light its important to keep the emotive affects of that light clear in your mind. A soft light cast across someone's face can often create an endearing affect. This is ideal for weddings, young people and children. If you want to create something theatrical and moody, try a different direction and quality of light. However, for windows, you will find that creating an endearing affect is easier than you think.
Window light is great for portraits. Use a tripod with your shoot and get the right position before shooting. Before you shoot carefully examine the quality, contrast, temperature and direction of this light. If you work with light in this way you begin to look at all the very subtle aspects of your portrait. Once you begin this process you will begin to find the sheer enjoyment of portrait photography.
First of all, create stunning portrait photography is not about camera settings. In fact, if you focus on camera settings as the way to take portraits, you will be disappointed. Camera settings are part of it, but not the whole part. By all means, take notice of your settings, but do not rely on them to be the whole answer to creating stunning portraiture.
Many enthusiast photographers stand in front of the window. They position their subject (friend) with their backs behind the window. What they should be doing is using the window light to light the subjects face. Sounds easy doesn't it? So why don't more photographers light portraits that way?
The simple answer is they do not understand light. The difference between an enthusiast photographer and a professional photographer is a solid, and very deep understanding, of light. If you are an enthusiast, and you have struggled with photography, don't feel bad.
Changing the white balance to suit your portrait is essential if you want to create beautifully warm and fresh skin tones. It's easy to create unsuitable colour tone through a lack of understanding about white balance and how it affects your friends skin tone. In this case do a custom white balance before you shoot.
Firstly, in order to create really stunning portrait photography you need to really look at the light. Is the light creating lots of hard shadows or is the light really nice and soft over the persons face? Hard light is the light you see on a very bright, sunny day that shows lots of bright areas and lots of dark shadows.
When you shoot portraits you can chose a variety of colour temperatures depending on the look and feel you are aiming for. If you want something upbeat and happy then you may chose a white colour temperature. This occurs with the sun being at the highest in the sky. If you want something soft and endearing you may choose to shoot when there are warm colours in the sky. Usually portraits look nice when the colour temperature is white.
You can actually change this hue on the camera. You can make it look blue, yellow or orange. This is called white balance. You can select this range of colour hues depending on the look and feel you are aiming for. If you want to create a romantic feel for your portrait then you may chose a orange colour temperature. This is kind of like the light you see at sunset or dawn. It can influence the way people feel when they look at the photo. Don't forget about a white colour temperature, such as the hue you see at midday. Usually portraits look nice when the colour temperature is white.
If you find that you still have too much shadow on the opposite side to the window, then try using a reflector. A reflector can bounce the light back onto the persons face to fill in the shadows. This works very well in some situations.
Window light can help soften shadows and provide an "all over" direction. This depends on whether the window light comes from the person's top and side and not directly from above. If you have lots of light from above then try and find a large window. This will help throw light on the persons face evenly. Once light is spread evenly across someone's face you will have a greater chance of softening the emotion of the photo.
When shooting a portrait using window light its important to keep the emotive affects of that light clear in your mind. A soft light cast across someone's face can often create an endearing affect. This is ideal for weddings, young people and children. If you want to create something theatrical and moody, try a different direction and quality of light. However, for windows, you will find that creating an endearing affect is easier than you think.
Window light is great for portraits. Use a tripod with your shoot and get the right position before shooting. Before you shoot carefully examine the quality, contrast, temperature and direction of this light. If you work with light in this way you begin to look at all the very subtle aspects of your portrait. Once you begin this process you will begin to find the sheer enjoyment of portrait photography.
About the Author:
Amy Renfrey is the author of several photography ebooks and a monthly photography emagazine. She shows you how to take stunning photos every single time, even if you have never used a digital camera before. Click here to learn photography the easy way.
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