Updated October 13, 2026
The easiest way to get better light for indoor photos is to look for a natural reflector, like a big white wall, next to a window. The window light bounces off the wall and back onto your subject’s face. I’m Katie Donnelly, a Paris photographer, and I use this indoor lighting hack all the time.
What You’ll Find in This Blog:
The Indoor Lighting Hack: Use a White Wall as a Reflector
Lighting is tricky. Indoor, it’s even trickier. One of my BIGGEST lighting hacks I always use when I’m photographing indoors is to look for natural reflectors, like a big white wall. The light will then bounce into the wall and back toward my subject illuminating her beautiful little face. Like this photo below, there’s a white wall just to her left, it’s helping to bounce light back into her and to balance out the strong window light coming in from behind her.
BOOM. Easy. Your turn!
How to Try It at Home
- Turn off the overhead lights and lamps, and open the curtains.
- Find a window with a white or pale wall beside it.
- Place your child between the window and the wall, a step or two from each.
- Look at their face. If one side is too dark, move them closer to the wall.
- Take the photo, then move around them and try another angle.
No white wall? A white sheet, a white door or even a big piece of white cardboard does the same job.
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: finding the light inside on a cloudy day, using catchlights to bring eyes to life, and what is ISO, which helps when there is not much light.
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Indoor Photography Lighting Questions
Use window light, and look for a natural reflector such as a big white wall. The light bounces off the wall and back onto your subject, which fills in the shadows on their face.
Anything pale that bounces light: a white wall, a white sheet, a white door or a light-colored floor.
Katie photographs with natural light almost all of the time. Window light looks softer and more real than flash.
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.
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