Portraits in natural light

Learning goal

With a single window and a white surface, without using a flash or a studio, you will be able to get a consciously built portrait light. You will decide at what angle and how far from the window to place the person, and see how these two decisions change the direction, softness and depth of the shadow on the face. By moving the reflector closer to and farther from the shadow side you will open the difference between the two cheeks as much as you want, but not erase it. You will be able to build the same setup at a window with direct sun coming in, or outside in the shade of a building. When there are two people of different skin tones in the same frame, you will place them relative to the light so as to keep the detail of both.

The question

The orange light coming from the oven's mouth lights only one side of the master's face; the other cheek has sunk into darkness, and on his dark skin half the face has merged with the shadow. Your friend sighs, "I don't have a studio, I don't have a flash." The older member nods toward the back of the shop: behind the counters, a misted pane facing north. Then they pull a big piece of white cardboard out from among the flour sacks. "These are enough," they say. Is a professional portrait with a window and a reflector really possible, or is this only a consolation?

Context

In the window light lesson you met the soft, directional light coming from a window's wide surface, how light falls off into the room and the sparkle it leaves in the eye (Lesson 5.6). In the reflector lesson you tried how a piece of white cardboard sends light back to the shadow side and opens up the eye sockets when placed below the face (Lesson 18.3). In the difficult light lesson, too, you saw how shade that direct sun doesn't reach but that sees the open sky gives a face soft light (Lesson 18.5).

This lesson brings that knowledge together in a single portrait flow. Many portrait photographers say that the soft, directional light they try to build with studio lights stands ready at a window. A window is a large, soft source; but what makes it useful is where the person is seated, where the face turns and where the white cardboard is held.

Simple explanation

Where is the person placed relative to the window?

Window angle is the angle at which the person stands relative to the window, and it sets the direction of the shadow on the face. When the person turns their face straight to the window, the light lights the face from the front and evenly; shadows decrease and the face looks flat. When the person stands at about forty-five degrees to the window, the light catches one side of the face from the front and the side together; the nose shadow comes down toward the cheek and one of the loop or Rembrandt patterns you met earlier appears by itself. When the person turns fully side-on to the window, the face is split in two. Someone who turns their back to the window, on the other hand, is lit from the edge and their face stays in shadow. None of these is right or wrong; each says something different about the face.

The camera's position is also part of this decision. When the camera stands close to between the window and the person, it sees the lit side of the face; when the camera moves opposite the window, the shadow side turns to the camera and the face looks deeper and more dramatic. Sliding the camera a few steps while the person stays in place gives two different portraits with the same light.

What does distance change?

Window distance is how far the person stands from the window, and it changes the softness and depth of the light together. For a face standing close to the window, the window is a large source; the light is soft but falls off quickly into the room. That is why the difference between the lit side and the shadow side of the face grows and the room behind the person drops into darkness. As the person moves away from the window, the window gets smaller and the light starts to harden, but the two sides of the face and the background come closer to each other. If you want a dark background, move the person closer to the window and leave an empty depth of room behind them; if you want a bright, calm frame, move them a little farther away.

A window with direct sun coming in leaves hard shadows and bright patches on the face. A thin white sheer curtain or a bedsheet stretched in front of it diffuses the sun and turns the window back into a large, soft source. Outside, the same setup is built in the shade of a building: the person stands inside the shade, their face turned to the open sky or the bright street.

Where is the reflector held?

Reflector distance is the distance of the white surface from the person's face, and it sets how much the shadow side will be opened. The reflector is held on the shadow side, facing the window; the closer it comes the more the shadow opens, the farther it goes the deeper it gets. The aim is most often not to erase the shadow, but to make the detail inside it visible. Bringing the cardboard slowly closer and stopping the moment the detail of the shadow cheek appears is a good method. When the reflector is placed below the face and tilted forward, it also sends light into the eye sockets.

Skin-tone placement is positioning people of different skin tones in the same frame relative to the light so as to keep the detail of each. Because window light falls off into the room, placing the dark-skinned person a little closer to the window and the light-skinned person a little farther brings the brightness of the two faces closer to each other. That way the exposure keeps the detail of the dark face without blowing out the bright side of the light face. The natural sheen of dark skin shows at a large, soft window as a broad, soft glow; this sheen is the skin itself and isn't erased.

Visual evidence

In the light of the oven's mouth, one side of the master's face is orange and bright, the other side completely dark. On his dark skin the detail of the shadow cheek has been lost, the eye sockets can't be made out. In the background the oven's mouth stands like a bright spot.

Your friend seats the master at a forty-five-degree angle to the back window, a step away from it. The light is soft and cool; the nose shadow comes down toward the cheek like a small loop, and the square reflection of the window appears in the eyes. The older member holds the white cardboard on the shadow side and tells your friend to bring it slowly closer until the detail of the shadow cheek appears.

Then the apprentice also comes into the frame. Their light skin shines at the window, and the master's face stays dark beside them. Your friend moves the master half a step closer to the window and takes the apprentice half a step back. The two faces come closer; the apprentice's forehead doesn't blow out, the master's eye sockets stay detailed.

Common mistakes

Summary

Building a professional portrait with a window and a reflector is possible, because a window is a large, soft source; what decides is the person's angle and distance to the window, the camera's position and how close the reflector is brought. Direct sun is diffused with a sheer curtain, outside the same setup is built in the shade of a building; people of different skin tones are placed at different distances from the window, keeping each face's detail.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will shoot four frames of the same person in front of a window.

1. Seat the person with their face turned straight to the window, then at a forty-five-degree angle to the window, then fully side-on, and shoot each one.
2. In the forty-five-degree setup, move the person closer to and farther from the window, and compare how the background and the shadow side change.
3. Hold a piece of white cardboard on the shadow side and shoot the last frame, stopping the moment the detail of the shadow cheek appears; enlarge the face and check the skin's detail and the reflection in the eyes.

Check yourself

• When you changed the angle to the window, did the direction of the shadow on the face change?
• Did the reflector open the shadow without erasing it?
• Does the skin's detail read on both the lit and the shadow side?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. What happens when the person stands at about forty-five degrees to the window?

• A) The face stays completely in darkness
• B) The shadows disappear completely
• C) The nose shadow comes down toward the cheek and a loop or Rembrandt pattern appears
• D) The reflection in the eyes disappears

2. As the person moves closer to the window, what happens to the background?

• A) The background goes dark because the light falls off quickly into the room
• B) The background brightens
• C) The background doesn't change
• D) The background takes on color

3. When is it a good method to stop the reflector?

• A) When the shadow disappears completely
• B) When the reflector touches the face
• C) When the lit side blows out
• D) The moment the detail of the shadow cheek appears

4. If there are two people with dark and light skin in the same frame, how are they placed relative to the window?

• A) Both at exactly the same distance from the window
• B) The dark-skinned person a little closer, the light-skinned person a little farther
• C) The light-skinned person right in front of the window, the dark-skinned person in the dark
• D) Both with their backs to the window

Answers

1. C — The light catches the face from the front and the side together; familiar portrait patterns form by themselves.
2. A — For a face close to the window, the light's falloff into the room is very pronounced.
3. D — The aim isn't to erase the shadow, but to make the detail inside it visible.
4. B — Because the light falls off into the room, this placement brings the brightness of the two faces closer.

Summary card

• Window angle sets the shadow's direction, window distance its softness and depth.
• 45 degrees: loop or Rembrandt comes by itself; slide the camera and try two views.
• Close window = dark background; far window = calm, bright frame.
• If the sun comes in, a sheer curtain; outside, a building's shade, face to the open sky.
• Stop the reflector when the detail appears; bring dark skin closer to the window.

Bridge to the next lesson

The window portrait is done. But the master wants one more frame for his daughter's wedding album: in front of the bakery, in the street, under the sign. It is getting close to noon and the sun is hitting from straight above; the master's eye sockets are pitch black, there is a hard shadow under his nose, his forehead shines. In the street there is neither a window nor a sheer curtain. How do you save a portrait in full sun? The next lesson takes up backlight, fill flash and shade outdoors.