Tunnels and Alleyways: Your Natural Studio

Learning to recognize light and how to use it is the constant task of a photographer.  Whether naturally occurring light, or artificial strobes and flashes, light helps us capture the expressions of our subjects.  As portrait photographers, it’s our job to make the light as flattering as we can.

For those who don’t have a 2,000 square-foot studio, you need not despair.  I’m going to let you in on a little secret: you can get studio-type lighting elements in your natural-light images by shooting at the edges of tunnels or alleys.

How?  They are cool structures, but more importantly, they provide three things that help achieve a studio-like quality to your images:

1. Main Light is Directional.

Flat lighting is often not only boring, but also not the best way to show off your subject.  In studio lighting, you will have a key light and a main light, and both have a direction to them.  Some of the most flattering portraits show off cheekbones of our client or the angle of his/her chin.  Putting your subject in an alley or tunnel creates a direction for the light, and giving a beautiful fall-off of light on the faces of your subject.

2. Distinct Catch Lights

The light in people’s eyes often stems from a small white dot somewhere on the eye, called a catch light.  In a studio, it would be square from a soft box and round from umbrella.  Naturally-created catch lights can occur from many things: sidewalks, buildings, windows and much more.  When your subject is in the opening of an alley, you have narrowed the span of things reflecting light and have clear catch lights of the sky behind you. Here’s an advanced reason: when you expose for a subject in the opening of a tunnel or alley, they are darker than if they were standing out in the sun, and by contrast, the catch light will appear that much brighter — the exposure of the sky hasn’t changed.

3. Hair Light, Rim Light

Hair/Rim light is achieved by having a light come from the side or slightly behind the subject – not necessarily a light from directly behind the subject.  Your subject is also brighter than the background, which visually separates them from the background.  If your alley is long enough, you may see the light from the end of the tunnel or alleyway hitting the edge of their hair and body with the dark wall behind them.  The rim light adds to the separation, making the subject stand out of the photo and grab attention.

Now that you can see the benefits of shooting in alleyways and tunnels, drive around and look for tunnels under bridges or closely-built buildings to try out these techniques.

Happy Shooting!