Creative ways of Using a window with Natural Light

Adding a window in the frame when shooting indoors, makes the photograph all the more interesting as it gives a touch of natural light and the photograph looks closer to reality. Even if you suplement the natural light with artificial light to increase the light levels or use reflectors to bounce the light back on to the subject, there are several permutations and combinations in which a window can be included as a part of your composition.

Cottonbro Studio

Keeping the window on the side

Keeping the window on the side of the subject allows side or short lighting on the face which is any day more appealing than broad lighting.

Shoot against the light

Shot against the light with a lower angle has created Short lighting on the body and the overall white tones make the photograph a High Key Image.

The Sunlight has relatively more warmth here and it is more hard as well creating a rim on the model.

Smoke is more prominent when illuminated with back lighting and it is more visible against a dark background. Probably the reason of positioning the hand against the darker areas as directly against the window the smoke wont have shown.

For such photographs, window light alone may not be the only light source which may have been suplimmented with artificial light sources or reflectors. The idea is to retain the original essence of the scene while making more areas visible to the eye, in the photographic terms.

Let there be a silhouette

Make it Black and White

This particular photograph is inherently Black and White as no colour is visible due to the way it has been shot. The figure is rendered as a silhoutte. The door is white and the light coming from the window is washed out.

Monochrome

Use the pattern

pexels-dario-fernandez-ruz

Make it wide

Add a flare

Shoot through the window

Create a High key Image

or a Low Key Image

Show the viewpoint

Mixed lights

Catch the warmth

Add some Noise

Grab the opportunity

Mood is more important than detail

Stained glass

Luis Quintero