Window Blind Shadows Portrait
One of the things I like about winter is the sunlight streaming through one of my studio windows at a low enough angle to create window blind shadows portraits. In the summer the sun is too high for me to do this and get the angles I want.
As with any photograph, composition is the most important decision. The position of my subjects face was very important to get the effect I was after. Her face was turned toward the light but not so much that her left eye disappeared. I had her face turned slightly down while her eyes looked up at a slight angle into the light. This opens up the eyes. We adjusted her height just enough so a band of sunlight was across her right eye and much of her left eye. The photo wouldn’t work if her eyes (and especially the right eye) were in the shadow bands.
Metering was critical. The photo can’t be metered like you see it above or the dark shadows will fool the camera meter, causing the dark shadows to be lighter and the sunlit skin to be too light. I opened up the slats of the blind for maximum sunlight and metered her skin, being careful not to include any dark hair. When the blinds are half closed they diffuse the sunlight, reducing the intensity, so it is a good idea to add about a half to a full stop of exposure compensation (+1/2 to +1). Once the camera meter reading was locked in using the camera’s manual mode, I closed the blinds half way to get the bold shadows. It pays to experiment a bit with the angle of the blinds to get just the look you want.
Photo Data: Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM at 58 mm. 1/50 second, f/11, ISO 400.
Links
Exposure compensation is briefly explained toward the end of this article on using your camera’s reflected light meter.
At the bottom of this page there are links to a series of articles on exposure basics.
To learn more about exposure, metering and portrait photography, read my book Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies. This article shows you how this book will improve your photography. You can order it at Amazon.com where it has a five star rating and is one of the highest rated books on photographic exposure and photographic techniques. Check out the reviews.
Recommendations for some of the best “how to” books on people photography.