I would consider myself to be a natural light photographer. I love the look I can achieve when I use the ambient light around me. Yes, certain situations arise where I need to supplement the ambient light, but I try to avoid it as much as I can. And as a (mostly) natural light photographer I am constantly looking for quality of light. This is very challenging when shooting indoors.

This picture of my gold retriever, Tucker, was taken the first month that I had my new DSLR! I used my 5DMkII and my 85mm f/1.8 lens. I used to shoot in aperture priority mode. When you shoot in is mode you have control over the aperture and ISO, but the camera selects the shutter speed to make the correct exposure. For instance, in this image (I apologize for not being able to look up the exact settings at the moment) I probably set the ISO to around 400 and the aperture to f/1.8, then I would look at the meter and pick a shutter speed that gave me the exposure I wanted. (I typically like to overexpose by a full stop, but I will go more, or less depending on the situation.)

But the camera settings are only part of how I achieved this image. Would you believe that I took this while Tucker was laying on my bed? Or that I was only using the light coming through my bedroom windows? Because that is exactly what I did!

I walked into my bedroom and he was taking a nap on my bed. (yes, he is a spoiled pup) I wanted to take a picture of him, but he was facing the door with the windows to his back. I turned him around 180 degrees so that he was facing the opposite corner with a window on either side of him. I played with the blinds, pulling them up and down. I’m pretty sure I liked the blinds down for this picture, because they softened the sunlight. Then with some puppy bribery (treats!) I told him to “lay down!” and snapped this shot.

It is often too dark inside a house (or any building) to take a “lighter” looking picture. So next time you are indoors, take your subject close to a window or door and play with the light. What happens when you move them closer to the window? What happens when you get them to face into light, or away? How does it look with the blinds up vs. down? And if the room is dark except for the light coming through the window/door, you can get some really dramatic shadows!

Happy Shooting!