Indoor photo with lighting coming in from side window

[jameseder]

I took some portrait and full body photos yesterday however I'm not too happy with the ones that were taken of the subject sitting next to the window with the light coming in from their left side and me directly in front of them. It revealed darkness under the eyes and a lot of lines that were undesirable, as opposed to a more clean look when I took them standing in front of a wall with the sun behind me. The light coming in from the outside wasn't sunny, it was quite cloudy, but did that side light disrupt the photo? Was it the reason the lines become unflattering and undesirable and the darkness around the eyes and nose was so apparent? There was no flash either. The ISO was around 400.

 

[bratkinson]

When shooting without using the flash, you are forced to use whatever light, whatever -mix- of lighting, and whatever shadows there may be in your photograph. At best, you and your subject can both move to a different location so that the position of the light source(s) gives better shadows or at least reduced 'bad' shadows. Another option is to use a reflector from another window but in front of the subject to bounce some of that cloudy-grey outdoor light towards the subject.

As always, with no flash photography and daylight coming through the window providing some of the lighting, white balance becomes a significant issue. Moving the subject a little closer or further from the window will change the white balance due to more or less indoor light (incandescent, florescent, LED). Trying to get WB consistency from photo to photo with a moving subject or various subjects in the room but seated in various locations makes getting a -consistent appearing- white balance throughout the shoot quite difficult and probably best handled during post processing of RAW images.

Plan B would be to use an external flash or two and take control of the lighting. That way, you control what -kind- of light (rather than "blah grey day") is used as well as locating the light(s) to give the best shadow/non-shadow results. In short, welcome to the world of portraiture.

 

[Braineack]

post the pic.

 

[paigew]

yes post a pic

 

[Braineack]

A picture is worth 1,000 words, and you only described yours in: ~100.

You're only giving us 10% of the story.

 

[Derrel]

Window light can be pretty shadow-heavy and NOT "soft"; part of that depends on how big the window actually is. At some modern urban office buildings, ground floor WALLS can be window glass material, and the light may be pretty soft. In homes, many windows are 1x 1.2 meters in size, which is not a large, soft light source.

The human eye and brain can overlook shadows that a camera's eye reveals with cold, hard clarity and brutally unflinching recording of what is truly there.

 

[Braineack]

Window light can be pretty shadow-heavy and NOT "soft";

you dont say?

 

[Designer]

It revealed darkness under the eyes and a lot of lines that were undesirable,

Was it the reason the lines become unflattering and undesirable and the darkness around the eyes and nose was so apparent? .

Yes, side light (grazing light) defines surface irregularities remarkably well.

The opposite of that is flat light which "hides" surface irregularities.