Lighting tips for the winter!

Dec 1 • 2022

SO. You’ve baked a holiday treat (sugar cookies, apple pie, gingerbread…), set up your scene *juuuuust* right, grabbed the camera to start snapping away and — your lighting is weird.

Because guess what? Light changes in winter.

Now before you freak out because you spent ALL THIS TIME learning about light just for it to go and flip the script, I’ve got your back.

In winter, the sun is at a greater angle to the Earth and the days get shorter. I’ll spare you the geography lesson, but what that means for you is: less hours of lighting and more indirect light.

Luckily, there are a few simple adjustments you can make to ensure you get the most out of the light you do have!

📅 Change Your Workflow — Move your photography schedule to match when the sun is at its best. My shooting window in winter is usually somewhere between 11 am and 2 pm. You might also find that spacing out your shoot over multiple days helps instead of trying to do it all in one day!

🪟 Move Your Scene — Remember: the strength of your light source is weaker in winter since the light is more indirect. Try pushing your scene closer to your light source to soak up all that beautiful light. If you usually keep your scene about 3 feet away from your window, try moving it 1 foot away and see what happens!

🔆 Use a Bounce Board — Finally, I can’t recommend using a bounce board enough. I use a white foam board from a craft store (so cheap! so effective!) to make sure I get as much good light in my scene as possible.

Hopefully these tips have cured your winter lighting blues and good luck on your next shoot!