Using window light in different ways

Recently, I had a fun filled lifestyle campaign photography shoot. The location was a very large space with many windows, without any window treatments. The indoor lighting was daylight balanced and a skylight provided additional lighting. One area in the very large space, had window sills that were large enough for anyone to sit on, near a window. I decided to use this area for a portion of photography content. The sunlight coming through the window provided enough light for me to capture my subject at a reasonable ISO and lens opening. I used the sunlight in different ways, to provide choices to the client.

The first set up, I had the subject sitting on the windowsill without any direct sunlight on her at all. I used the white wall as a background and also as a fill light. The warmth of the sunlight provided a soothing skin tone, with small highlights on her cheeks and nose.

I had the subject move slightly closer to the window. I positioned her just at the point where the sunlight highlights were on the top of her head, along her arm and hair. Her arm is slightly blown out in the highlights, which could have been changed with repositioning the subject slightly to her left.

I moved the subject to the edge of the wall, closer to the window. The highlight on her face is edgy but I like how different it is. The highlight on her arm is pretty blown out which could be fixed in post retouching.

For the last setup, I moved the subject's head and body to be more face on with me. She has slight highlights on her face and the book's cover has enough light to read the text. For this series, I made sure there was enough room on the rightsize for adding graphics, text or removing the building's exterior. Playing around with sunlight can be exciting and trying new setups will keep your photography work fresh and exciting!

All images ©LisaRamsay 2019