Windows may be high-quality subjects for images. The inclusion of the frame of the window attracts your viewers into the photo and encourages them to region themselves in that particular scene. The digicam and the window become a proxy for the viewer.
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| View in the direction of the lawn from a Berlin, Germany condo. |
Why Windows?
Windows are also a way of providing contrast in a photograph: between what is inside and what is outside, what is included in the view and what is excluded, etc. A warm interior can be enhanced by a hint of the winter's day outside, while a child's face at a window can contrast with those playing outside. In the image above, the plants inside and the plants outside provide an interesting contrast to each other. |
| Light beams via skylight windows |
Windows can be important sources of light and environment. Here, those skylights provide the piercing beams of mild that remove darkness from this interior room in Ajloun Castle (Qal'at ar-Rabadh) a Crusades-era fortress in Jordan.
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| View from the stairway of the Astronomical Tower in Prague |
Windows can also offer interesting compositional shapes or frames for pictures. By constricting the view, they pressure the attention to keep in mind the composition in the body furnished. The uncommon oval shape of this window offers an exciting contrast with the instantly traces and squared corners of the Tyn Church and the Old Town Square in Prague, Czech Republic.
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| Window used in the Second Defenestration of Prague |
Windows can tell a story or belong to an critical moment in records. This window entered history books in 1618 as the location of the Second Defenestration of Prague. During the rebellion, the two royal governors and their scribe had been thrown out the window however miraculously survived the fall. This occasion, but, marked the start of the Thirty Years War. (Yes, we've got a phrase in English specially to mark the throwing of people or objects out of windows! It comes from the Latin preposition de (down or down from) and fenestram (window).)
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| Window looking into a courtyard of Balcony House |
Windows also can connect us to people in distance places or remote times. By setting ourselves of their shoes and via sharing their view, we can get a glimpse of another lifestyle or worldview. The window above overlooks a courtyard in the Ancestral Puebloan network of Balcony House at Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado. Despite the hundreds of years of time, we are able to photo what it would be want to have lived in such a community and to have had that view.
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| Sometimes you are the only being watched from the window! |
Don't overlook that home windows also can have occupants. This kitten is watching the comings and goings of the motel guests from her perch overlooking the walkway.
Tips for Photographing Windows
It can be difficult to properly expose for a scene that includes a window. Depending on the lighting, you may have to choose whether to expose for the scene through the window or for the scene around the window. You may want to choose the spot metering option on your camera to choose a smaller area of the image to have the camera use to calculate its recommended exposure values. (See more about Exposure by reading All About Exposure and More on Exposure: how to fix common exposure problems .) Remember to use a narrow aperture (such as f/22) if you want both the foreground (the window and frame) and the background (view through the window) to be in focus. |
| View closer to San Francisco from Alcatraz |
For the window shot above, which changed into taken at Alcatraz jail, I wanted to spotlight the view thru the window of the close by, but nevertheless unreachable, skyline of downtown San Francisco. The details of the mobile itself have been no longer as critical, and the underexposed blackness in addition presents a evaluation among the world without and the arena inside.
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| View of the Grand Tetons from Cunningham Cabin |
You can also use flash or additional lighting to try and balance out the differences in lighting between the inside and outside of the window. For this view through the window of the Cunningham Cabin out towards the Tetons, I wanted to include the details in the wood of this historic building as well as the sunset vista. I chose the shutter speed and aperture values based on the view through the window and then used the flash to briefly illuminate the cabin during the exposure.
Summary
Windows can be an endlessly interesting photographic subject. By constraining the view, they can lend an air of mystery to an image. By inviting us to look at them, they draw us as viewers into the image and allow us to make connections to the location or the occupants. They are also useful compositional tools and can provide light and drama to a scene. Next time you are feeling stuck and need some photography inspiration, try a window! |
| Preserved pattern of a window shutter from the Villa of the Mysteries close to Pompeii, Italy |
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