Screenshot image from the video by Marc Klaus
Have you ever tried shooting natural light portraits indoors? It’s always worth a try because it could be a pretty fun and educational exercise, considering doing so would force you to work with whatever light you got to produce the best possible images you could.
Shooting indoors using available light and minimal gear and props is pretty easy, as you would observe in photographer Marc Klaus’ seven-minute behind-the-scenes video. Throughout this clip, you’d see that his models actually had more outfit options than he had cameras and accessories combined.
The first, most obvious, and the most important step is to find a large space with lots of natural light seeping from the windows. Bonus points if it has white walls running the whole perimeter to act as a giant surround reflector. Place your subject facing the light source directly so it hits their face completely, like what Marc did in the video.
Of course, just because you’re shooting using natural light doesn’t mean you’re confined to using only that. Feel free to bring in other light sources! In this case, Marc made use of the light bulbs attached to the mirror of a makeup table.
“I definitely love the way that this light just captures her face and it gives a nice ring light right around her eyes. We’ll see how those come out,” he said.
You can watch the whole video below. Make sure you stay tuned ‘til the end to see the results!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3IshGpSvUY
This covers the basics but if you want something more advanced, do check out our piece on tips and tricks to shooting emotive portraits indoors. If you’re up for something a little more challenging, you might want to read this piece on how to be better at shooting natural light indoors as applied in boudoir photography.
Via Marc Klaus’ channel on YouTube.