Portrait lighting, or not?

Hi Joel. Lighting is not a prerequisite, but good lighting, natural or otherwise is necessary. Check out Annabel Williams for natural light pictures.
 
It is pretty hard to beat window light for a portrait, so if you have a room with a large bright window (and a background that isn't too distracting) you should be OK. Move your subject around until the light is coming from the right angle. If the light is too strong so the pictures are too contrasty, drape a white sheet or thin curtain over the window.

Light from light fixtures isn't always the best as it can come too much from on top of the subject which gives dark eye sockets - then a bit of fill flash or reflected light can help.
 
This thread:

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=288690&highlight=italian

has a few shots from room with a full length south-facing window at camera left. The rest of the room is dark so it sucks up the light and gives quite deep shadows (which I like). Pics are nothing special (except to me as they are my kids) but it gives you an idea of what even I can do with decent light. Annabel Williams' level is something I aspire to.
 
Maybe for a bit of fill flash to light the face, but not as the main source of light or it will look like a driving license photo. Have a look at the manual how to set the flash as fill flash.
 
Talking from experience, I pretty much only work with natural light when I'm not in a studio environment. I've never used built in flash before as I find the light to be far too 'hard'; but when working with lighting in a studio I tend to work with soft boxes as they produce a diffused bright light & I don't end up with too much shadow in the features. I suppose if I was shooting portraits in a room that I felt could do with the extra light, I'd use additional lighting with a softbox as if I were in a studio.

It's all about your own relationship with light & I'd recommend just experimenting with different lighting techniques 'til you've found whats right for you.
 
joel222 said:
Is it possible to take good quality portraits using just the camera in a well lit room or would I need to buy lighting?
Click to expand...

It's every bit possible. More and more lately I've taken to disliking obviously artificial lighting (totally personal preference). I don't mean the use of it, I mean the lighting in a shot looking totally unnatural. Underexposing the background too much by using a powerful flash for key light kind of vibe, I just don't like it.

Having started with flash, and worked with and owned various Elinchrom and Bron gear, having assisted fashion and commercial photographers shooting every other system out there pretty much, I have grips with it and I'm comfortable with it. However, lately I've had the sudden realisation that my natural lighting techniques reeeeeeally lag. Or were. So I'm currently shooting solely natural light. Indoors, outdoors, wherever, and at any time of the day.

I'm enjoying shooting now more than ever and in a whole "new light" ;) lol.

You need nothing more than your camera and a fast lens (low f number). If you want to add light, get a handheld reflector, if you want to take it away use boards painted black, or even better covered in black velvet. For effects use things like mirrors, reflective surfaces, glass, vases with smashed mirror around them, hell, cover half your lens with an ash tray. There's an infinite amount of possibilities with natural light, just remember not to be afraid of higher ISO, and practice your grip for slower shutter speeds. I handhold an RZ67 with 180mm lens at 1/15s, practice practice practice!
 
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