Window Light Portraits at Home

Soft, diffused light versus harder light on the same face. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC).

A single window is the most useful light source in most homes, and it costs nothing to run. The trade-off is that it changes through the day and across the seasons. In much of Canada the practical daylight window narrows sharply in winter; around the December solstice, Toronto sees roughly nine hours between sunrise and sunset, so the soft mid-afternoon light you rely on in June is gone by late afternoon in January.

Find the right window

North-facing windows give the steadiest light because they receive indirect skylight rather than direct sun for most of the day. That indirect quality is naturally soft and changes slowly, which makes it forgiving while you set up. East and west windows deliver direct sun at the start and end of the day; that light is harder and warmer, and it moves quickly.

• North window: soft, even, slow to change — the default for portraits.
• East window: bright and directional in the morning.
• West window: warm, low-angle light in late afternoon.

Shape it with what you have

When direct sun hits the glass, a plain sheer curtain turns the whole window into a larger, softer source. A white bedsheet taped across the frame does the same job. The larger the diffusing surface relative to your subject, the softer the shadow edges become.

Diffusing a source widens it and softens the shadow edge. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC).

Position the subject

Place the person at an angle to the window rather than facing it straight on. A 45-degree turn lets the light wrap across the face, giving shape through a gradient from highlight to shadow. The closer the subject sits to the glass, the softer and more contrasty the falloff; stepping back evens the light across the face.

Fill the shadow side

With one window, the side away from the glass falls into shadow. A white wall, a foam board, or even a light towel held opposite the window bounces a portion of the light back to lift that shadow. Move the bounce closer to raise the fill, farther to deepen the contrast. Coloured walls tint this bounce, so a beige room warms the fill and a grey room keeps it neutral.

Working with short winter days

Because usable daylight is limited in the colder months, plan portrait sessions for the middle of the day. When the light fades, you can extend the session by switching to a continuous lamp balanced to a similar colour, then treating it the same way you treated the window: diffuse it, angle it, and bounce fill into the shadows.