Natural light photography with windows

Natural light can be wonderful or problematic when it comes to taking photos.

Photographers love natural light from windows to illuminate their photos. However shooting directly at a window is when problems can surface.

So, here are some tips to follow when using natural window light in your photos:

1. Whenever possible shoot with the window light to your back. If you have a subject that you want to light with the light from the window, have the subject move away from the window. Stand with the window to the back and shoot toward the subject. The light from the window should nicely light your subject.
2. When shooting toward a window, watch your camera settings. If you simply point the camera at a window and expect everything inside the window to be properly exposed you will be disappointed. The issue is the camera is exposing for the window light. The interior surrounding that window will as a result be very dark. If you want to get a proper exposure of the room’s interior, you will need to determine the exposure for the interior, then dial it in manually on your camera. The window will likely be blown out, but the interior should be properly exposed.
3. Consider high dynamic range or HDR photography. What this means is that you take a photo looking toward the window with different exposure settings. Perhaps you have three shots – one exposed for the window, one under-exposed and one-over exposed. Then in HDR all three shots will blend together to hopefully create a well-lit image. This should hopefully result in a window that is not blown out and one you can actually see what’s outside.

I suggest you play around with natural window light and see what you can come up with. Once you practice for awhile, you’ll discover the best way to use natural window light in your photography.