Window Light Portrait
There is a reason photographers like soft window light. It is great for all kinds of subjects, like the young woman above and the photo of a 2 week old infant in a prior post.
This was a “grab shot” at the end of a formal shoot. It was a sunny day and I have a south facing window in my studio. I pulled down a thin, translucent accordion blind which provided soft directional light (the kind of light photographers mimic by using a soft box on a studio light).
I metered the bright (right) side of Hallie’s face and chose an exposure setting that would make her skin one stop lighter than a medium tone (+1 exposure compensation). If I had used the meter reading suggested by the camera, her skin would look darker than it is in real life. Whenever a person’s skin is lighter or darker than a medium tone (which happens a lot of the time), exposure compensation (varying from what the camera meter says by adding or taking away light) will create a natural looking skin tone. If your subject is lighter than a medium tone, you have to add light to what the camera meter suggests by using a longer shutter speed or a wider lens aperture. If your subject is darker than a medium tone, you have to subtract light from what the camera meter suggests by using a faster shutter speed or a smaller lens aperture.
Exposure compensation is covered in more detail half way down this page, and in a lot more detail in my photography book linked below.
A 70mm focal length provided a natural perspective for her face. For a portrait this tight, a wider focal lengths would distort the features of her face.
The camera was hand held for this photo so the image stabilization (IS) in the lens allowed me to use a much slower shutter speed and still get a sharp photo.
I didn’t need a lot of depth of field so I used f/7.1 for the lens aperture
More information on portraits, light, perspective, metering, and depth of field can be found in my highly rated book, Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies.
Photo Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 70mm. f/7.1, 1/25 second, ISO 400.