Portrait photography tip: Taking portraits at night by shop window light

Thursday 26 May 2022, 15:30 by Elja Trum | 3,069 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Most portraits are taken during the day, but there is really no reason not to get started in the evening. A city in the dark can make a wonderfully atmospheric background for a portrait.

Jip - f/3.2, 1/125s, 2500 ISO @ 85mm
You can easily photograph by the light of street lamps or shop windows in the evening. A fast lens, such as an affordable 50mm f/1.8, and a camera that does not suffer too much from noise are essential.

Don't be afraid to use your camera's higher ISO sensitivities. A modern camera can often handle 1,600 or even 3,200 ISO without too much noise in your photo.

In the photo above, I used the light from a shop window to illuminate model Jip. In this case, also take the colour of the light into account. Here, it was somewhat warmer halogen light. Some shop windows give off a slightly bluish light, which is often less suitable for a portrait.

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About the author

Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.

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2 comments

Willem Bravenboer wrote on Tuesday 31 May 2022 at 11:58 | reply
Zou je mij kunnen vertellen welke kleurtemperatuur je hebt ingesteld bij het warmere halogeen licht.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Elja Trum wrote on Wednesday 1 June 2022 at 10:21 | reply
@Willem; Volgens mij heb ik hem geschoten op de AWB van de camera en later in Lightroom iets opgetrokken naar 3.400 Kelvin.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

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