Figured I’d try my hand at those fancy window light portraits everyone raves about. Looked simple enough online, right? Sun comes in, you point the camera. How hard could it be? Turns out, kinda hard. Here’s how my attempt went down step by step.
Gear & Setup Chaos
First, grabbed my camera body and the trusty old kit lens. Didn’t wanna bother with flashes or fancy stuff today. Went hunting for the right window. South-facing living room window around 2 PM seemed okay. Sunshine was blasting in like a laser beam. Moved a chair right next to the window, dragged my reluctant roommate over to sit as my victim, uh, model.
Initial Problems Hit Like a Truck:
- Sunlight was way too harsh. My roommate looked like a raccoon with eye sockets in pure black shadow. Not the look we were going for.
- Camera kept yelling at me about being too dark or too bright every time he moved an inch.
- Dust floating in the light beams looked cool until I realized they’d show up like crazy specks in the photos.
- My “model” started sweating like crazy sitting in the direct sun. Mood was plummeting.
Trial and Error Phase
Okay, time to actually figure this out. Moved my buddy back from the window a couple feet. Still harsh. Remembered something about diffusing the light. Didn’t have anything fancy. Ran to the kitchen, grabbed that slightly yellowed translucent shower curtain liner I bought and never used. Taped it messily over half the window. Boom! Instant diffuser. Light turned way softer, shadows less like knife edges. Felt pretty smart.
Next, messed with camera settings.
- Switched to Aperture Priority mode so I could just worry about blurring the background.
- Cranked down the F-stop number (like f/2.8) to get that nice blur.
- ISO set to something low like 200 to avoid noise. Camera still complained sometimes.
- Kept tweaking the shutter speed every time the light flickered through clouds.
Felt like I was fighting the camera constantly. But getting better.
Posing & Refinements
Now, the fun part with my increasingly impatient roommate. Had him angle himself so the diffused light fell on one side of his face. Turned his head slightly towards the window to get those little white dots in his eyes people like. Told him to relax his shoulders (looked super stiff). Used a little white poster board I found lying around to bounce a bit of light back onto the shadow side of his face. Less scary raccoon look. Started clicking. Moved around a bit – crouching, standing slightly back. Framing mostly head/shoulders.
What Actually Worked (Finally!)
After maybe an hour of fiddling and sweating:
- The janky shower curtain diffuser saved the whole thing. Soft light was key.
- Positioning him not right in the window, but just beside it, facing slightly towards the diffused light.
- Having him turn his face subtly towards the light source made the eyes pop.
- Low F-stop number gave that nice background blur I wanted.
- White bounce card filled just enough shadow without needing a flash.
- Took tons of shots constantly adjusting settings.
The End Result
Sorted through maybe a hundred shots later. Found maybe five or six gems where the light looked clean, the focus was sharp on the eyes, and my roommate didn’t look like he wanted to murder me. Didn’t win any awards, but you could tell it was professional-style window light. Much softer, more flattering shadows, skin tone actually looked good, eyes had life. Key takeaways: Diffuse the damn harsh sun, position your subject smartly, use a cheap bounce, don’t stop tweaking the camera, and have a patient friend! Gotta try it again with better light control.
