A window gives you a large soft source for free, and it flatters almost every face. Place your subject beside it and shoot toward the darker side of the room.
The trick is control. Unmanaged daylight changes all day, so you shape it instead of hoping for the best.
Put the subject so the window sits about forty five degrees to one side. This gives a gentle shadow on the far cheek and a catchlight in the eyes.
Face them straight into the window for a flat, even look or turn them slightly away for more shape. Small turns change the whole result.
Keep the window out of the background when you can, because a bright rectangle behind the head pulls the eye away from the face.
Direct sun through a window creates hard shadows that move as the day goes on. Diffused light from an overcast sky or a sheer curtain stays soft and steady.
Shoot in the morning or late afternoon if the window faces the sun. At midday the light comes down hard and lands on the floor.
Test your room at several hours before a shoot. The best window is the one you already understand.
Daylight is only free if you control it. The moment it controls you, the shoot gets expensive.
Add a white foam board on the shadow side to bounce light back into the face. This costs almost nothing and removes the dark side that daylight often leaves.
Block the light you do not want with black fabric or a dark panel. Removing stray light is often more useful than adding more.
Curtains act as your dimmer. Pull them across a little to cut the output without changing the color.
Daylight shifts color from warm at sunrise to cool at midday. If you shoot across a few hours, the skin tone will drift with it.
Set your white balance by hand and lock it. On a long shoot, check it again after lunch.
Mix window light with a lamp and you get two colors on one face. Match the lamp to daylight or block it out.
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