How to Get Better Lighting for Indoor Portrait Photography

There are simple ways to get better indoor lighting for your photography.

Creating appealing light sources for indoor photography can be challenging. Photographers who shoot pictures inside studios have to deal with artificial lighting that sometimes alters the appearance of their subject. When taking portrait photographs, the test of achieving attractive illumination is even greater because unnatural light can be unforgiving against different complexions. There are rather simple ways of overcoming these challenges and creating beautiful lighting for your indoor portrait photography.

Things You'll Need

• Reflective surfaces, such as white paper or poster board

Instructions

1. Use lighting from windows facing north. Because of where the sun rises and sets during the day, the Sun provides the most indirect, natural illumination when allowed in from the north. Lighting from other windows may be too direct and harsh for your indoor portrait and wash out your subject matter.

2. Vary how close you set your subject to the source of lighting. As a general rule, the soft hues of natural light are best used at a distance from the source. However, if you're going for a sharp, contrasted portrait, it is better to move your client closer to the window.

3. Improve any problems with contrast by using various fill lights. Two types of fill lights are camera flashes and types of reflectors. If an on-camera flash is used it should be set between one-half and one full f-stop below the the overall exposure reading to avoid the look of flash photography. Reflectors are an easy form of fill light because almost anything that is reflective can be used, as long as it is not a colored surface. Common sources of reflectors are white walls and ceilings, white paper, white cardboard or foam core, the dull side of aluminum foil taped to cardboard and construction foam core that has the reflective foil side.

4. Practice by taking a few shots to see what works best for closeup shots in the indoor room you are using. An easy lighting exercise is to simply sit in any room with a reflector and practice reflecting available light onto anything in the room that could be your subject before you begin your photo session. Study the way the reflected light changes the way your practice subjects look as your best lighting may vary from day to day.

Tips & Warnings

• When using natural lighting, avoid direct sunlight which points out facial imperfections and frequently causes your subjects to squint.

References

• David Whitfield; Professional Photographer; Noblesville, Indiana
• Kodak: Lighting for Portraits