Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/08/21

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Subject: [Leica] window lights....
From: "Birkey, Duane" <dbirkey@hcjb.org.ec>
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 14:01:27 -0500

I often shoot photos of some of our hospital patients using only window
light.. I also shoot people in rural areas that way, although the window is
really a door more often then not.  I also have people ask me to photograph
them in and around their homes. 

The one problem I have with doing window lit portraits is that there are a
lot of variables.

Sometimes you will have a building nearby that will bounce a lot of light
towards your window... it gives a lot of direction to the light and there is
more of it..... but if it's a blue building.... you are going to get blue
light..... if there is lots of grass or trees around... you'll get yellow or
green light..  

And then you add the variable of reflections from walls inside the
house..... some times if you have a nice white wall nearby it will bounce in
some fill light.... but sometimes if there is no wall or dark paneling
around you end up with a hard looking portrait....  If you have colored
walls..... well.... it can make for some weird effects.

You can also get some odd looking reflections in eyeglasses or eye
highlights.... so you want to watch that carefully....  and if the light is
getting reflected off of another building you can get shadows from the frame
and panes etc.....  And luck usually has it that directly behind your best
shooting position is the family photo wall or china cabinet which adds
reflections to your background.  So you have to rotate a bit.....   I would
generally recommend that you rotate your position a bit anyhow so the light
hits their faces at a bit of an angle...  But some people look better with
real flat light so.... don't overdo it.   Extreme sidelighting may be
artistic... but it's generally not what people want.  

The size of the window will to a certain extent dictate how hard or soft the
lighting will be..... some times if there is a light sheer on the window
you'll end up with a real nice huge soft box....   but watch out as colored
curtains or carpeting around the window which can add some interesting
colors too. 

Furniture is pain in the neck as well.... I usually end up moving some stuff
around...  Especially if they want somebody seated

The big thing with shooting in color at least is to kill all of the
artificial lights in the house... to reduce mixed colors.  

I always hope to shoot with 100 ASA... but always bring something faster
just in case.  I prefer using a 90 for individuals... but sometimes 50 a 35
is more approriate and with some faces.... closer is not better..... 

The biggest advantage of using window light for portraits of people is that
you can use their home setting for pictures.... they are generally a lot
more comfortable, unless they are embarassed about their home.... and you
end up with a personal background as opposed to the old master backdrop.
Using window light is a WYSIWYG situation, but you really have to pay
attention to the color of light and reflections as well as everything else
you are doing..... 

For me it is a lot less work to shoot them in a studio and a large softbox
does a pretty good job of matching window light without all of the
variables.  But I like the results and uniqueness of a well done window lit
portrait better.

Duane Birkey
HCJB World Radio
Quito Ecuador
Duane's Photographs of Ecuador
http://duane_birkey.tripod.com