By now you’ve probably realized one of the great ironies in good portrait photography: you should turn the flash on when working outdoors. So guess what the great secret is for indoor portraiture? That’s right; turn the flash off. Some of the most artistic portraits use nothing more than an open window and a simple reflector.
The problem with using your on-camera flash indoors is that the light is harsh and creates a very contrasty image. “Harsh” and “contrasty” are not two words models like to hear when describing the pictures you’ve just taken of them. Fill flash works outdoors because everything is bright. The flash “fills” right in. But ambient light is much dimmer indoors, and the burst of light from the flash is much like a car approaching on a dark street.
Using on-camera flash indoors for portraits (Figure 4) creates
harsh highlights and ugly shadows on the backdrop. It’s
nice to have the built-in flash in a pinch, but you don’t want
to make a habit of using it for indoor portraits.
Of course there are times when you have no choice but to use your camera’s flash indoors. It’s very convenient, and you do get a recognizable picture. But when you have the luxury of setting up an artistic portrait in a window-lit room, try existing light only.
Using the light from an open window creates a more flattering
portrait (Figure 5). The camera is on a tripod for steadiness
during the long exposure, and reflectors are positioned
on both sides of the model to minimize deep shadows.
First, position the model near an open window and study the scene. You can’t depend solely on your visual perception, because your eyes and brain are going to read the lighting a little differently than the camera will, especially in the shadow areas—you will see detail in the dark areas that the camera can’t record.
This is why you need a reflector to “bounce” some light into the shadow areas. Many photographers swear by collapsible light discs, but a large piece of white cardboard or foam core will work just as well.
Place your reflector opposite the window and use it to “bounce” the light on to the dark side of the model. This will help “fill in” the shadow area so you can see some detail.
On-camera flash produces harsh results for indoor portraits and should be avoided as much as possible ( f-2.5 @ 1/60th of a second)
Existing light portrait shot in the same setting as Figure 3-4, but with the flash turned off (f-2.5 @ 1/4th of a second, ISO speed set at 50)
Figure 6 shows the existing light setup for Figure 5. The
model is facing the window with reflectors positioned on
both sides of her. The blank wall serves as the backdrop, and
the camera is secured on a tripod.
The existing light setup used for Figure 3-5 (f-2.5 @ 1/4th of a second, ISO speed set at 50)
Now put your camera on a tripod and slowly squeeze the shutter button. Review the image on the LCD monitor. If the shadow area is too dark, you may want to add another reflector. If the overall image is too dark, turn on exposure compensation, set it to +1, and try another picture. If the color
balance of the image is too “cool” (that is, bluish), then you may want to set the White Balance control to “cloudy” and see if that improves the rendering.
Remind your model to sit very still during exposure because you may be using a shutter speed that’s as slow as 1/15th of a second, or even longer.
You could increase the camera’s light-sensitivity by adjusting the ISO speed to 200, but don’t go beyond that because you’ll degrade the image quality too much for this type of shot.
Once you’ve played with these variables, go back to the artistic side of your brain and work on the composition. Try to get all the elements in the picture working together and let nature’s sweet light take it from there. When it all comes together, existing light portraits are magical.
Related posts:
Posted in 
Tags: 
