Wherever possible I prefer to use
natural light in portrait photographs. This will usually be created by light
falling through a window directly onto the subject’s face. Where the lighting
is of a low level, you may need to raise the ISO to counteract the lack of
light and possibly change the exposure compensation to over-expose the image.
Using a high ISO will create a grainy effect on enlarged images which in some
cases is very effective. In other cases, such as full face portraits, this can
detract from the image.
The photograph above was taken on a
December evening using the remains of the daylight which was falling through
the window. I used an ISO of 5000 and increased the exposure compensation by
+5. I was shooting without a tripod so used a shutter speed of 1/90 second. The
end result is a dark image but you can see light caught in the child’s eye
which adds a feeling of inquisitive innocence to the picture. I like to think
that it is perhaps Christmas Eve and the child is looking out for a sleigh and
reindeer in the winter sky.
The image above was taken in the middle
of the day in November. There is a lot of light falling through the window and
I wanted to create a reflective feeling to the picture. I set the exposure one
point down to slightly underexpose the shot. I braced my camera on a table and
used a shutter speed of 1/10 second. This means that the outline of the subject’s
face is in light and detail is visible in the garden beyond the window.
If I were to take a similar picture I
would focus more on the face. The image I have taken is dominated rather by the
plant on the window sill.
