Children's Portrait Photography Handbook

depending on how far you position your subjects from
the light.
Many children’s photographers use a window seat in
their studios. The windows, which wrap around the al-
cove of the window seat, produce a broad expanse of dif-
fused daylight that is perfect for children’s portraits.
Window Size.The larger the window or series of
windows, the more the soft, delicate light envelops the
subject. Window light seems to make eyes sparkle excep-
tionally brightly, perhaps because of the size of the light
source relative to the subject.
Falloff.Since daylight falls off rapidly once it enters a
window—it is much weaker just a few feet from the win-
dow—great care must be taken in determining exposure.

You will need reflectors to kick light into the shadow side

of the face. Have an assistant do this for you so you can

observe the effects at the camera position.

Time of Day.The best quality window light is the soft

light of mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Direct sunlight

is difficult to work with because of its intensity and be-

cause it often creates shadows of the individual window-

panes on the subject.

Backlighting.Window light can also be used as a

backlight with silver or gold reflectors employed to fill

in the frontal planes of the face. This is a very popular

strategy for children’s portrait lighting—especially with

translucent curtains hung in the windows for some diffu-

sion. With this type of lighting, it is important to expose

OUTDOOR AND NATURAL LIGHTING 45

Window light can be a beautiful and
pleasing light. A simple foil reflector
is all that is needed to open up the
shadows created by the window
light, which is acting like a main
light. Anthony Cava created this
wonderful portrait of a flower girl
taking a little shoe break.