Recreating window light

ianmarsh

ianmarsh

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As I posted in this thread (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=288690), I liked the natural lighting I got through my mother-in-law's large north facing windows in Italy. Unfortunately, I am now back in sun-free London where my windows are more or less east-west facing. So I'd like to work out how to recreate window light with flashes.

My first thought is that this could involve a large scrim lit with a flash head some distance away. Do any other ways spring to mind?

I have a brolly-box and a medium softbox that are very nice but don't quite give the effect I want. Maybe they are too small and/or don't control spill in quite the same way.

Any thoughts appreciated.
 
Best way I've seen is to use a hilite and a portable background stand with curtains on it. Makes a perfect window :)
 
seen a 50" apollo used, its deep so feathers well and you can use gaffer tape to mask on the cross bars ect
 
I like the scrim idea but spill is problematic indoors as is the very limited ability to feather it
 
Best way is using a 7' Octabank but you'd need studio strobes to get a fair amount of light out of one.
 
A scrim won't do it but a silk will, although spill could be a problem.

The easiest way would be a softbox - as Ali says, a Hi-lite would do - but really only if you want the light to appear to come from patio doors/french windows, otherwise you want the light to be adjustable, which means an ordinary softbox on a stand.

As David says, gaffer tape makes good glazing bars
 
Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

"Silk" is the word I was searching for when I only came up with "scrim". I guess I would have to block either side of the silk with something solid to mimic windows and walls, and to let me feather it a bit.

I never thought about a hi-lite. Would a hi-lite (or a large softbox) suffer from having the light source too close to the diffusion? My feeling about the light I am trying to recreate is that it is a diffused and distant source (the northern sky) coming in through a large space. A hi-lite sounds more like a large diffused/reflected lightsource *close* to the mock-window so I wouldn't expect it to have the directional qualities of window light.
 
ianmarsh said:
Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

"Silk" is the word I was searching for when I only came up with "scrim". I guess I would have to block either side of the silk with something solid to mimic windows and walls, and to let me feather it a bit.

I never thought about a hi-lite. Would a hi-lite (or a large softbox) suffer from having the light source too close to the diffusion? My feeling about the light I am trying to recreate is that it is a diffused and distant source (the northern sky) coming in through a large space. A hi-lite sounds more like a large diffused/reflected lightsource *close* to the mock-window so I wouldn't expect it to have the directional qualities of window light.
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Unless the light coming through the window is direct sunlight then it will be diffused and although not identical the large rectangular softbox or the smaller hi-lite on wheels is your best bet for simulating the window.
 
But even if it is non-direct sunlight, it is still quite directional. I don't know how a lightsource close to the subject can be the same. I say this never having touched a hi-lite, so am probably talking rubbish.
 
ianmarsh said:
But even if it is non-direct sunlight, it is still quite directional. I don't know how a lightsource close to the subject can be the same. I say this never having touched a hi-lite, so am probably talking rubbish.
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You're not talking rubbish, you're right. You'd have to have the subject far enough away for the light to become reasonably harsh, so would be better off normally with a smaller softbox if it's 'window lighting' that you want. But if you just want the 'window shaped catchlight' then it would do fine, with or without 'glazing bars' added
 
I have seen Joe McNally place a speed light outside the window on a stand with a cto gel on it to warm it, very effective. It's in the hot shoe diaries.
 
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