Place a simple object near a window on a table, and before you take a photo, study what it looks like first. The side facing the window will be brighter, and the other side will be in shadow. If you look at it directly the background will get lighter, but in some other angles, it will be darker. There was nothing really significant in the subject, but the picture is already different in terms of mood, shape, and detail because the light is coming from one direction.
Window light is excellent for beginners to study, because it doesn’t require any studio equipment to figure out how a light direction affects your picture. You can use almost any everyday item as a practice subject, such as a cup, book, plant, or a camera lens cap. Place it approximately one arm’s length away from a window, set up a plain background behind it, and take one photo from an angle directly in front. Then change the position of your camera or smartphone, so the window light is crossing the object, and shoot again. It will likely begin to show more texture, shadow, and depth now.
The most difficult task will be to learn that “bright enough” is not always “photo friendly.” Direct harsh sunlight on a subject can blow out highlights and create heavy shadows, while the subject far from a window may push the camera into raising its ISO or using longer shutter speed, which can increase image noise or lead to camera shake and soft images. Soft window light is especially helpful when the light isn’t directed at the subject because the shape of the subject is easy to identify in a range of light with low contrast.
Instead of changing camera settings for the following step, change the object’s position. Photograph it in two more shots, bringing it closer and farther away from the window. Then, rotate it so only one side is brighter, then another time with a brighter front to become flatter. In reviewing your photos, look closely at the edge between the darker and brighter side, and ask yourself the following questions: Is this shadow edge sharp or soft? Are the details visible on the brighter side? Is the background more distracting in one shot than another? These questions train you to read the light instead of randomly changing things.
Backlighting is another easy test for you to try. With the subject between you and the window, shoot a photo. The subject will be darker, while the background will be lighter. It can create an interesting photo but it may also hide details that you want to show. If the subject is underexposed too much, change the window angle so it is on a more diagonal, and tap your subject on your screen to tell your camera to focus and expose for it. The objective here isn’t to find one correct version, but to discover why your camera has chosen to make it that way.
The use of window light also exposes some problems in the composition, and a window behind the subject can distract a viewer from the portrait subject or object, while a simple wall may make for a nicer background, and bright shiny surfaces can send a highlight into the corner. Look around the edges of the frame, horizon lines, and prominent shapes that may be more eye-grabbing than your subject before you take the photo. Light and composition are always working together, which means one will change the effect of the other.
An acceptable outcome of this exercise won’t be a perfect indoor photo, but the ability to explain why one looks clearer than the other. Is it because it’s a side light, and so the object has more shape? Perhaps it’s better not to be in direct sunlight to protect the highlights. Maybe the subject is more easily distinguishable on a darker background. If you can talk about the impact of those changes, window light becomes less random and more like one of the most easily accessible resources before you begin editing.