Creating a window.........

This morning I was experimenting with some portrait lighting - although unfortunately they had to be self-portraits ! I was trying to create a portrait shot in front of a window, where there was no window to give any natural light. In order to do this i was using my Nikon SB-900 Speedlight attached to the camera itself (usually I prefer to take flash off camera and use it remotely). The nice thing about the Nikon SB-900 Speedlight is that you can swivel the head to direct the light anywhere you need it. Shooting the flash directly at the subject usually gives an unflattering harsh light and would illuminate the whole subject. If I was using natural light from a window, the light would be soft and illuminate the subject from the side, falling off the subject gently on the opposite side from the window. In order to get camera flash softer you can bounce the light off another surface such as the ceiling or a wall to give you a softer illumination. So with the camera on a tripod and orientated to portrait, I was able to angle the flash towards the wall half way between the camera and I. So when I took the image, the flash fired directing light against the wall that then reflected and softened onto me - giving the impression that I'm stood in front of a window. The result isn't best composed image and the model could use a little make-up, but as a lighting test goes it was a success !