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 photographers don't actually use the light from the window to illuminate the subjects face or eyes. Instead they photograph the subject side on or with the window light from behind. This method will not work and you will be quickly disappointed with the results.
Once you have made a decision on what sort of portrait you want to create, then think about your lighting. First and foremost your lighting is the most important thing in your photography portraiture is no exception.
I will help increase your understanding. Firstly, in order to create beautiful portraits you need to examine the qualities of light. Is the light hard or soft? Hard light is otherwise known as strong light. It's the light you see on a very bright, sunny day that creates lots of bright areas and lots of dark shadows.
The way to do a custom white balance is as follows: Take your light meter and place it on the persons face. Face the light meter towards the window light with the invercone extended. Now press the side button and take a reading. Make sure the light meter and the camera have the same settings. For example if the light meter tells you that F1.4 and 1/60th of a second is ideal, and your lens is unable to go to F1.4 then you may not use the setting. Move your light meters dial to the aperture you want to shoot at. It will then give you a reading you will able to set on your camera.
Now that you have the ideal exposure take a grey card and place it in front of the lens. Set your camera to the settings of the light meter. Take a photo. Set the photo of the grey card to the correct white balance on your camera. Now your white balance should be ok. It's been set for the conditions you are shooting in.
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 think about the emotion that the light has on the overall image. A nice, diffused window light can often create an endearing affect. This works really well for weddings especially. Alternatively if you want to create something dramatic, try a different direction and quality of light. You might try side lighting instead. That's another topic for another time.
Consider window light as a wonderfully accessible way to shoot portraits. Always make sure you have plenty of light and use a tripod. Window light is soft and subdued and ideal for portraits. Face your portrait towards the light, not away from it. The direction of light needs to light the persons face to help create a gentle and soft look and feel. If you use window light in this way, you will be better equip to handle many lighting situations.
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 photographers don't actually use the light from the window to illuminate the subjects face or eyes. Instead they photograph the subject side on or with the window light from behind. This method will not work and you will be quickly disappointed with the results.
Once you have made a decision on what sort of portrait you want to create, then think about your lighting. First and foremost your lighting is the most important thing in your photography portraiture is no exception.
I will help increase your understanding. Firstly, in order to create beautiful portraits you need to examine the qualities of light. Is the light hard or soft? Hard light is otherwise known as strong light. It's the light you see on a very bright, sunny day that creates lots of bright areas and lots of dark shadows.
The way to do a custom white balance is as follows: Take your light meter and place it on the persons face. Face the light meter towards the window light with the invercone extended. Now press the side button and take a reading. Make sure the light meter and the camera have the same settings. For example if the light meter tells you that F1.4 and 1/60th of a second is ideal, and your lens is unable to go to F1.4 then you may not use the setting. Move your light meters dial to the aperture you want to shoot at. It will then give you a reading you will able to set on your camera.
Now that you have the ideal exposure take a grey card and place it in front of the lens. Set your camera to the settings of the light meter. Take a photo. Set the photo of the grey card to the correct white balance on your camera. Now your white balance should be ok. It's been set for the conditions you are shooting in.
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 think about the emotion that the light has on the overall image. A nice, diffused window light can often create an endearing affect. This works really well for weddings especially. Alternatively if you want to create something dramatic, try a different direction and quality of light. You might try side lighting instead. That's another topic for another time.
Consider window light as a wonderfully accessible way to shoot portraits. Always make sure you have plenty of light and use a tripod. Window light is soft and subdued and ideal for portraits. Face your portrait towards the light, not away from it. The direction of light needs to light the persons face to help create a gentle and soft look and feel. If you use window light in this way, you will be better equip to handle many lighting situations.
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.