ISO 400 | 50mm | f 4.0 | 1/40 sec

It was her favorite spot in the whole house; had been since she was a young child.  When she felt lonely, got bored, or just needed a place to think, the seat by the window always beckoned.  She got up early in the mornings to catch the first faint rays of the sun as it slowly made its appearance above the horizon.  There by the window she would bask in its warm rays and enjoy a candid view of the early-morning neighborhood bustle below her.  Book in hand, she could sit there for hours in pure enjoyment of her special place at the window’s sill, immune to the worries and concerns of the world around her.  Peacefully at home with a good book and a beautiful vista; what could be better?

I was inspired to try some window-light photography this week.  This was not the original image I had in mind, and I actually took some other photos of a slightly different concept, but I decided I liked this one better.

This is a combination of two images at different exposures (almost HDR, but not quite).  Basically I shot one exposure specifically for the blown-out window area to bring back the details in the curtains (love those curtains BTW) and then shot a separate exposure for the darker area surrounding the blown-out window.  I specifically tried to incorporate the sun’s glow/flare in the image because I felt that it gave it a warmer feel and emphasized the fact that it was early in the morning (I actually took this shot late in the evening, just before the sun went down, but it’s basically the same thing).

Anyways, that’s this week’s shot.  Hope it encourages you to experiment with one of your best natural light sources – windows.  It’s amazing the quality of light they can produce, and the difference in the type of light you can get changes depending on the time of day, it’s an awesome study in light.

Until next time…