Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Indoor Options


Too hot outside to consider going out to shoot? Or too rainy? On days when the weather makes you want to stay indoors, you can still create some lovely images. Just use windowlight to make images of shells or flowers, or other still life subjects.

A north-facing window is good all day long and will provide fairly even, soft light. But you can also find soft light by using an east-facing window in the afternoon, or a west-facing window in the morning. 

Experiment on where and how you position the subject. For starters, I recommend finding a room with just one window, a fairly large one if possible. The larger the window, the softer and more controllable the light. Place the subject about 3 feet away from the window and position yourself so that your shoulder is fairly close to the wall with the window. That will provide nice, wraparound light that will add a sense of dimension to the subject.

Avoid shooting straight into the window since that will tend to underexpose the subject, and possibly cause the background to be too bright.

For backgrounds, sometimes the color of the wall behind the subject works well. At other times you might try a sheet of light or dark colored poster board or fabric to provide a clean background in the color of your choice.

Try a variety of things and shoot a lot of images. Try different f/stops to vary the depth of field. It is great fun, and you will end up with some wonderful images, all in the comfort of your home.

TECHNICAL DATA
Shutter Speed 1/60 sec.  Aperture f.3.5.  ISO 800.  Lens: Canon 100mm macro f/2.8L IS.  Camera: Canon 5D Mark III.  Handheld.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."  --Jane Austen

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