Updated October 13, 2026
To take good photos indoors on a cloudy day, follow the light: open the windows, sit your subject in the soft light coming in, and circle them to see how it falls from every angle. I’m Katie Donnelly, a Paris photographer, and I photograph with all natural light 95% of the time.
What You’ll Find in This Blog:
Where Is the Light on a Gloomy Day?
Lighting is KEY to any good photo and gets especially tricky to use inside. I photograph with all natural light 95% of the time so sunny or cloud, tons of light or not, I work with what I get and pray to the weather gods for eternal sunshine.
On rainy days, you can’t coax me out of bed or my office for anything less than a doughnut or playing with babies. Thus, you can find me leaving my editing for indoor baby shoots or coffee with the promise of a doughnut.
Side note: What a life right? Where’s the worlds smallest violin when you need it!?
But what to do when it’s gloomy out and you’re thinking, where’s the light? How do you find it to take good, creative photos?
Follow the Window Light
You follow it.
Where does the beautiful light come from in your house? The windows. So fling those windows open Beauty and the Beast style and sit your subject there in that beautiful light cascading in. Let the soft light illuminate your babe. How is it hitting their face? Is it fully lit up or just partially? Are they back lit in a silhouette? Circle them and look from all angles.
Practice: One Window, a Zillion Photos
Take a few minutes and practice with your child taking photos of them just using the window light. Circle around them, back up, then get close. There are about a zillion and a half photos you could make with a single window and subject so play around and make them. Let your creative juices flow and then look at your photos afterward to see what you like, what worked and what didn’t!
I do this often with new lighting ideas, testing it out by doing a shark vs prey-style circling reenactment (haha). I find it helps to know what you’re working with and really focus on how you can bend the light to make it most interesting. Sometimes the new lighting works out great, sometimes not so much but at least I know I’m trying new things and making more art!
- Fully lit: your subject faces the window. Soft and even.
- Partially lit: your subject is side-on to the window. More shadow, more mood.
- Backlit: the window is behind your subject, for a silhouette.
This lesson is part of The Authentic Portrait: A Parent’s Guide to Documenting Childhood, my photography guide for parents who want to learn the basics and take better photos of their kids, without spending hours and hours taking classes. I am working on a new edition of the guide. Until it is ready, you can read every lesson in The Authentic Portrait series.
Next lessons: an instant indoor lighting hack, using catchlights, and what is ISO, for when the light is low.
Always the one behind the camera?
Hand it over for a morning. Our English-speaking team photographs families in Paris, so you are in the photos too. Sessions start at €150, and you see your photos the same day in our Saint-Germain studio.
Or first see how a Paris photoshoot with us works.
Window Light Photography Questions
Use the windows. Open them, place your subject in the soft light coming in, and move around them to see how the light falls.
It is using the natural light from a window as your only light source. The light is soft and flattering, especially on a cloudy day.
Right by the window. Facing it for full, even light, side-on for more shadow, or in front of it for a backlit silhouette.
About the author
Katie Donnelly, Paris Photographer
Katie Donnelly is an American photographer who opened her Paris studio in 2013 and was voted Best Portrait Photographer in Paris in 2017. She and her English-speaking team photograph families, couples and solo travelers at sunrise, so visitors go home with relaxed, real portraits instead of rushed selfies. Meet Katie and the team.
Ready to Book Your Paris Photoshoot?
You take the everyday photos. Let us take the ones with you in them.
- When: Mornings, just after sunrise, when the city is quiet
- Who: Families, couples, engagements and proposals, and solo travelers, with an English-speaking team
- Your photos: Viewed the same day at our studio in Saint-Germain-des-Prés
- Session fee: From €150. Inquire for our full price list.
Tell us your dates and we will help you plan the rest.
Or first see how a Paris photoshoot with us works.
