Today's the FIRST DAY OF SUMMER! You've probably already heard the advice to stay out of the sun between 10am and 2pm. The sun is at its highest, which means you'll be exposed to more UV, I think. Well, this post isn't about sun-safety even though I subscribe to the "say yes to sunscreen" mantra. No, this post is about my challenges when photographing in harsh sunlight. I often shoot around 10am because that's just the time our son and I head out the door on weekends.
Here are the challenges I've encountered when shooting in harsh sunlight. I'll be using photographs taken at our local playground on a very beautiful, but bright, morning.
CHALLENGE #1: Harsh shadows
Because the sun is high in the sky, the light comes straight down on your subject. This either masks your subject completely (see photo below), or you get upside-down campfire-flashlight-during-scary-story-telling shadows on faces. You know the ones. Neither are flattering. 
Canon T1i | Manual | 50mm | ISO 100 | f/3.5 | 1/320 sec
Example of CHALLENGE #1: harsh shadows when shooting in direct sunlight. My son's face is completely in the shadow.
SOLUTION #1A: If I had my SpeedLite, I could have tried using it to provide light to my son's face (i.e., fill-light). Guess I could have tried using the pop-up flash too. The next solution is easier ;).
SOLUTION #1B: Turn your subject around to face the sun, or in my case, wait for him to turn around ;).
Canon T1i | Manual | 50mm | ISO 100 | f/3.5 | 1/1000 sec
Example of SOLUTION #1B: wait for subject to turn toward the light.
There's a bit of that upside-down campfire-flashlight-during-scary-story-telling shadow on his face in the photo above. However, in this photo, you can see his face and the action better. Notice I've increased the shutter speed from 1/320 sec (first photo) to 1/1000 sec (everything else equal) because the sunlight is now on his face.
CHALLENGE #2: From sun to shade
The difference in the light levels between sun and shade is large at this time of day. Thus, one part of the photo may be over-exposed while the other is under-exposed. Notice the great divide in the photo below.
Canon T1i | Manual | 50mm | ISO 100 | f/2.8 | 1/320 sec
Example of CHALLENGE #2: large difference in sun and shade. Grass is over-exposed (or blown-out).
SOLUTION #2A: Unless you want to play around with layers and masks in Photoshop, which I don't, get your subject into the shade or into the sunlight. My own personal experience is that it's easier to edit an under-exposed photo than an over-exposed photo.
Canon T1i | Manual | 50mm | ISO 200 | f/2.8 | 1/320 sec
Example of SOLUTION #2A: here my son is standing on the line between sun and shade, though I wish he were facing the light. Not too much of the grass is blown-out. I've increased the ISO from 100 to 200 to allow more light since I'm in the shade.
Canon T1i | Manual | 50mm | ISO 100 | f/4.0 | 1/1000 sec
Example of SOLUTION #2A: here are the dandelions our son lined up (he de-weeded that grass area!) all in the sunlight. Notice I've increased the shutter speed to 1/1000 sec because we are in the sun.
SUMMARY
The best advice I'd give, but I won't take (haha!), is to avoid shooting between 10am and 2pm. But if you must, consider using a flash as fill-light, having subjects face the light, and not shooting half-way between the sun and shaded areas.Just for fun, I leave you with the following photo, which is our son discovering an ant.
Canon T1i | Manual | 50mm | ISO 100 | f/3.5 | 1/320 sec
Discovering an ant
Happy shooting!
Share your advice for shooting in harsh sunlight!
Share your advice for shooting in harsh sunlight!
Show some love. Leave a comment below and I'll definitely respond!
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Originally posted at expandng.com - Shooting in harsh sunlight
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Follow this blog!
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Originally posted at expandng.com - Shooting in harsh sunlight
Oh, I loved watching your little one play in the grass, lining up the dandelions, such a simple act and yet, little ones love to do it, so cute!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots!
Great post Lisa!!
ReplyDeleteYou will have to keep this blog going until J is an adult because I feel like I want to watch him grow up! He's such a doll. As far as pictures, I just started reading the manual to my camera so I have no opinion on sunlight other than don't face your subject into the sun so they are squinting in the picture. My family never followed that advice and it seems that we were always squinting in family pictures growing up.
ReplyDeleteYou are such an awesome blogger. I aspire to be like you! ;) Great post... great advice! I need to get my camera out MORE!
ReplyDeleteI love that your little guy lined up the dandelions! Gavin would probably just eat them. ha.
ReplyDeleteReally excellent and practical advice.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I'm in Portugal the hours which you can shoot at in the height of summer are ridiculously short because of the bright, bright sun! I do anyway though, hehe. Too hard not to. Photography's all about finding your light.
love that pic of little j with the bug. :) i actually take a lot of photos between those times because that's when the kids are not home and i have some moment to myself.... but will take your advice. :)
ReplyDeletehope you're well, l.
J is so cute! I'm surprised he didn't try eating the dandelion in picture #1. It looks like he was about to!! LoL
ReplyDeleteany advice for people that have cheap digital point and shoot cameras?? =D Right now, I'm using the point and shoot and keep on shooting until you get a half decent picture~ =D
P.S Just so you know, I am totally going to steal this post! I'm going to write something about our family shoot we just did and this fits right in with it. *
ReplyDelete*I will link back to you!
This is a great tutorial because in the next few months my Mom and I will be photograping between 10-2. This woman wastes no time so we'll need to figure out how to compensate for the bright sun. I tried shooting this weekend and it was rough...w/out sunglasses I had so many closed eyes ahh!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips! I can totally do the stand totally in sunlight or shade. Adjusting shutter speeds and whatnot? Not so much. In sunlight, I typically go on auto mode and then adjust exposure if it's too light or dark. There you go, the total extent of my photography knowledge!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I have been experimenting with manual mode but still shoot with auto mode most of the time. There are so many settings that can be adjusted... it's overwhelming!
ReplyDeleteOur teacher today also talked about using a diffuser, reflectors to bounce light on your subject. She's a wedding photographer so in Hawaii you can imagine this comes up all the time. Funny until today, I never would have guessed, the solution to sunlight was to add more light (like you said about your flash!) but now I understand why...you expose for your sunny background and then light your subject up to get rid of the shadows.
ReplyDeleteGreat point about watching out for the shade and sun intersect. I tend to not look around enough before I start shooting.
I love the flowers on the log pic so beautiful.
It's definitely hard to shoot during daylight, i usually shoot most of my photos around 5-730 for photoshoot, but for outfit post I just do it whenever I can and cheat on photoshop :D
ReplyDelete