It’s probably no secret to any photographer that a bright sunny afternoon is far from the best period for taking photographs outdoors. But, nevertheless, very often it is not the photographer who dictates the time of any event from which a photo report needs to be made. For example, the opening of a monument, a rally, festive festivities in the square, a wedding, in the end. The conditions are bad, but we need to shoot. What should I do?
To ensure that your photos don’t turn out to be of poor quality, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the basic rules for photographing in bright sun. I would like to think that from our article you will be able to glean the information necessary for this.
The first thing to remember is that there is practically no point in photographing nature and architecture on a sunny afternoon. The photo will turn out flat and completely ugly. This happens because at noon there are no shadows on the street - the sun is at its zenith. And this situation cannot be corrected in any way; we cannot interfere with the laws of nature. So, if you need to photograph, for example, a building, you will have to wait until the evening. Or wake up early and come to the shoot in the morning. When the sun is low above the horizon, its rays illuminate architectural objects very effectively and beautifully. Well, if such an opportunity does not present itself, then you will have to sit at the computer for a long, long time and process images in various programs.
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Most often, it seems to us, the need to take portraits arises on a sunny afternoon. Let's talk about this.
So what specific problems can arise when shooting on a sunny afternoon? Let's list them in order.
- Very clear, deep, contrasting and ugly shadows.
- On the face of the person being portrayed, such shadows appear in the eyes, under the nose, under the chin, under the ears. These places become like deep pits.
- If the sun's rays hit the lens, it is quite possible that glare will appear in the image.
- If you shoot in automatic mode, the sky in the photo will be too bright, and all other objects that are included in the frame will be too dark.
How to deal with these problems? Let's talk about each of them separately.
First of all, try to completely forget about the automatic mode. It would be much more rational to spend a little more time setting up the camera and still get normal pictures than to fill a flash drive with low-quality shots. That's why we recommend setting exposure compensation. Its value can be changed from -0.3 to -2, depending on the shooting conditions. Exposure compensation today allows not only almost all camera models, but even mobile phones.
On a sunny afternoon, shoot with a lens hood. It will protect you from sun glare that can form from the bright rays of the sun. Well, if you don’t have a hood, then you just need to try to shoot from such a point that the sun’s rays do not fall directly into the lens of your camera. And remember: direct sunlight is very, very harmful to the matrix of a digital camera. In order to reduce the impact of such rays, many experts advise using special protective ultraviolet light filters.
Well, how to get rid of very sharp and deep shadows?
Many photographers, especially beginners, will find it strange that we recommend using a flash in bright sunshine. At first glance, this is indeed absurd - there is already too much light, what is the need to illuminate a person with a flash? Everything here is quite simple. Flash can very well highlight deep black shadows on a model’s face and make these shadows softer. But do not forget that the flash power must be adjusted so that its light is not too bright. If the impulse is too bright, then the shadows on the face of the person being portrayed will disappear completely and then it will become ugly and flat, as professionals say, it will turn into a pancake. In the picture we will only get a round white spot with dots of eyes and nostrils.
The flash also adds sparkle to your model's eyes. Many people like it, mostly young women. Plus, quite often people squint in the bright sun, and because of this, their eyes in the photo sometimes turn out not very beautiful. How to avoid this? Very simple. Ask the subject to close his eyes for a few seconds and open them just before releasing the shutter. You can say something like this to a person: “Now you close your eyes, I will count to three, and you immediately open them.”
It's good to shoot in backlit situations with flash. Simply put, the model needs to be turned with her back to the sun and photographed with flash. In this case, you will get a normally lit face and beautifully backlit hair. It’s especially good to shoot women with voluminous hair this way.
And when shooting a portrait on a bright sunny afternoon, you can simply step into the shadows. Just keep in mind: the main thing is that the face of the person being photographed is illuminated evenly. The light in the shade on a sunny afternoon is usually soft and even. Sometimes the shadow from the crowns of trees can be very interesting - the light penetrating through the foliage falls on a person in beautiful spots and highlights. But don't forget. That in some cases these highlights and spots can ruin everything.
Let us give you one more very simple piece of advice. Use reflectors. With the help of this simple device it is very good to direct the light where you need it, for example, to poorly lit areas. This way you can noticeably soften the shadows. Well, if you don’t have a branded reflector, it’s quite possible to use any white or other non-dark-colored object whose surface can reflect light instead. For example, a white or light T-shirt, a sheet of paper, or even just a newspaper. Sometimes a light wall can also work as a reflector.
That, in fact, is the whole simple science of photographing outdoors on a bright sunny afternoon!
Hello readers! With you again, Timur Mustaev. If you compare a photo shoot on the street on an ordinary sunny day, then these are completely different things. In the first case, there is often not enough light, this is a problem. In the second, there are no difficulties in terms of the same and searching for options where to get a little more light. Here is just: what to do, where to remove all these rays!
Therefore, on the agenda is the solution to the question of how to use the bright sun for the benefit of your photographs and, most importantly, how to photograph against the sun.
One on one: photographer against the sun
It’s not hard to guess what kind of picture it might look like when there’s a bright light behind the object being photographed. The sun can be called its most intense representative. This is one of a series of sad discrepancies called “what I see and what my camera sees.” The camera cannot display such contrasts.
As a result, the photos look so dark that you can’t make out anything, or so light that it dazzles your eyes. What would you like best? What about the client? If you do not know the specifics of this type of lighting and are inept in handling the equipment, the sun will turn out to be your worst enemy.
You've probably heard from photographers or while studying the basics of photography on your own that you should never take pictures when the sun is in front of the lens.
Firstly, it spoils the optics, and secondly, which is already clear, photographs in principle cannot be obtained. I hasten to please you - there is a significant “but” in these arguments. Photography, like any field of knowledge, has its exceptions. Shooting against the sun is one of them.
Using light from the side or back is standard and provides many opportunities for a well-exposed shot, but unfortunately can be technically boring. Our topic is much more interesting. You just need to understand what you can do and what you can’t do.
So, the rules for organizing the filming process:
- Camera settings. I recommend shooting in manual mode, where you can perfectly line up all the parameters and get a great result, or aperture priority, since f is extremely important here. Bright lighting predetermines the need to cover the aperture: start with 8-9, but do not get carried away with high values, which generate more distortion. Select immediately. It saves the situation in many cases. Not only does post-processing have a chance to “pull out” such a Raw image, but you can also create a high-quality HDR image.
- Shadow. If the conditions are such that you need to get an acceptable quality photo of a person or a certain object, and the sun is right in front of you, then find a shady place - there will clearly be a better chance of getting a good shot. But this item is suitable only for those who do not have the goal of playing with the sun in the photo. It acts more as a disturbing factor than as an important part of the future picture.
- Available means. You can easily use an object, such as a piece of paper or your hand, to block the direct sunlight and protect the camera and the image itself. In this case it is useful to have . I can’t say that it significantly blocks the penetration of intense rays into the lens, but it is better to use it on a sunny day. In addition, hoods come in different varieties - both with short and more protruding edges.
- Special technical accessories. The same reflectors that can be purchased in technical stores will perform the necessary role and remove and redirect excess light. They do their job very well and are relatively inexpensive.
- Flash. I think that at first many people, if they saw a photographer taking pictures of someone with a flash on a clear day, would have a good laugh at him. But as it turns out, it was in vain. Most likely, such a specialist already understands the topic of our article and works competently with lighting. The flash will compensate for the hard shadows of the subject and highlight them. Of course, you can also turn on an on-camera flash, but the best option here and in most cases will be to buy a good external flash. It is advisable to use .
- Using a filter. Typically a neutral gray filter is used to soften the sun's rays. It will also be very useful if there is a reflection in the frame, for example, water!
Nature in the frame
It turns out that shooting with a DSLR camera directly in front of the sun is half the trouble. Real problems await you if you suddenly want to capture the sun in the frame! And, most likely, you will want to do this at sunset and dawn, when the sun is at its most beautiful. This is a magical clock for nature photography, also called the golden hour.
There will probably be fewer difficulties here, since the brightness will be lower, but it is still logical to apply the techniques outlined above: increase the value, block the sun, that is, partially hide it behind some object (tree, building, etc.), shoot in high resolution and the mandatory use of an external flash if you want the person to be visible against the sun and not be a black silhouette.
It would also be appropriate to use light filters, for example, neutral gray. They are often used by landscape painters. By lowering the exposure, they draw more detail in the brightest areas.
I love shooting at sunset. Even with my best efforts, various shortcomings arise. A common phenomenon when a luminary is included in the frame is stripes around it, blurred outlines. To make the sun look even in the frame, everything has to be carefully edited in Photoshop.
Oddly enough, there will be more problems with a DSLR than with a film camera, which is capable of capturing the solar disk as a soft transition of the entire range of light. The matrix will not be able to provide this, and half of the lights will be “knocked out”. It will be necessary to choose either in favor of what is in the shadows, or the information that remains illuminated. As an option, you can consider lightening or darkening individual parts of the image.
Parting words for photographers
When you consciously plan to take pictures against the sun or even with its presence in the photo, then, most likely, you set special shooting goals for yourself. You don’t just want to get a bright shot of a landscape or object, you want to add a lot of light, sunshine, joy or romance, novelty and originality to the image. The tasks may vary.
What I want to say is, don’t expect your photos to be perfect. You yourself understand that this is somewhat stressful for the camera. Appearing glare, sharp contrasts, over- or underexposure, etc. are rather a gift, and you can use them to your advantage. They will add charm to the image!
That's all for me. But before we say goodbye to you, I want to recommend good video courses that will help you understand your SLR camera and teach you how to properly process photos:
- Digital SLR for a beginner 2.0(if you have NIKON) or My first MIRROR(if you have CANON) - a course that will help you use your SLR camera correctly. Will reveal all the subtleties. He will teach you many tricks and guide you on the right path. A great video course, especially for beginner photographers who really want to get the most out of their camera.
- Lightroom is an indispensable tool for the modern photographer– quick post-processing and grouping of your photos. An excellent tool for processing RAW files. A wonderful program and a very intelligent, easy and useful video course.
- Photoshop from scratch in VIP 3.0 video format. If you are a complete beginner as a photographer and don’t understand Photoshop at all, and believe me, any photo is processed, this is a pattern. This course will simply not replace you. Once you become familiar with the basic functionality of Photoshop, you simply won’t want to part with it.
- Photoshop for the photographer 3.0. VIP. The last course is intended specifically for photographers to work in Photoshop. Correct processing, retouching, all possible elimination of defects in photographs, and so on. Everything is shown with examples and everything is clear if you have the basics of Photoshop. Listen, if you really want to get into photography, then everything in this course is something you must know if you want to become a professional!
Happy everyone! Come back to my blog again! Always glad to see you. Subscribe to the blog, share the article with your friends.
All the best to you, Timur Mustaev.
How to take pictures with flash during the day and why use flash during the day?
The question seems meaningless, but when it comes to practice, it turns out that flash, even on the sunniest day, can be an indispensable tool in the hands of a photographer.
In general, it is generally accepted that flash helps when there is little light, i.e. serves as an additional light source in poor lighting - in the evening, at night, in the house, in the shade of trees, in cloudy weather. But when there is a lot of light, it can and should be used too. As they say, there is never too much good light.
So during the day a flash is needed as soften shadows away from the sun or other strong and harsh light sources. Flash is mostly used during the day for photographing portraits. The harsh light of the sun can make very strong shadows on people's faces. Flash can soften these shadows.
Suppressing shadows on people's faces in high-speed sync mode
True, there are some restrictions on working with flash during the day. For photographing portraits, it is recommended to use fast lenses. For example, a lens with an F2.8 aperture and ISO set to 200 will require about 1/2000s-1/4000s on a sunny day. But there is flash sync concept with the camera shutter and often this synchronization rests on a certain limit. Basically, built-in flashes can work with shutter speeds no shorter than 1/200, 1/250s, or 1/320s, of course there are exceptions - this, etc. which can use shutter speeds up to 1/500s, but still, these are too long to photograph in daylight. But even if you have one, you can take photographs at shorter shutter speeds only if your camera allows it.
Attention: Not a single built-in flash on any central control system can work normally with shutter speeds shorter than 1/500s. The built-in flash of any central control unit does not have a fast sync mode.
Attention: High-speed sync mode is available on many cameras only in P,A,S,M mode.
An example of a portrait during the day. Flash on camera with diffuser card. Flash reduces the volume of the image, but adds contrast and color.
In order to be able to use flash with very short shutter speeds, it was created fast sync mode, which is called differently for different cameras from different manufacturers. For Nikon it is FP (fast pulse, fast sync), it allows you to use flashes and synchronize them with shutter speeds up to 1/8000s.
To be able to use this mode- need to:
- For the camera to support fast sync mode
- For the flash to support fast sync mode
Not all cameras can use this mode - these mainly include advanced amateur cameras and all full-frame digital SLRs.
Here's the exact one list of Nikon central control units that support the mode FP:
Flash during the day. Shot with flash in FP mode, positioned at the top left of the subject to create the desired lighting.
As you can see, the choice among Nikon cameras is small. Younger cameras do not have this mode, which will not allow you to take photographs with a flash and a small one. But this is not a problem, since you can use neutral density filters to reduce . Polarizing filters also reduce shutter speed. Usually the need for flash during the day is very small.
Flash during the day allows you to get a high-key portrait.
Not all flashes support this mode– small external flash units SB-300 cannot work in this mode. Nikon and SB-5000 work without problems with FP mode. These flashes can operate at shutter speeds up to 1/8000. Many third-party flashes also support FP mode, but it is often called something else, for example the flash has an HSS mode, which is exactly the same as FP mode.
When photographing during the day with flash, you need to remember that short and bright lighting requires a lot of energy from the flash. It's funny, but the flash in high-speed sync mode recharges faster than in normal mode, this is due to the unusual flash system in FP mode.
Portrait during the day. The flash sometimes produces extra highlights and can itself produce extra shadows.
If you have an advanced camera with fast sync mode, then most likely there is a built-in flash. This will allow you to use your external flash in remote control mode using the . That is, it will be possible to apply light at the desired angle and thereby create an excellent artistic photograph. I advise you to experiment with photographs with a flash against the sun to understand how effective the flash is in the daytime. For example, in the photo below, the girl is illuminated by backlight (strong side light), if I had not used the flash, I would have gotten a dark face. With the flash it turned out completely differently. However, using a flash on a camera can lead to loss of volume in a photograph.
Flash during the day in strong side light of the sun.
Whether it is worth using light diffusers for the flash or reflector cards - you need to look at the circumstances. As practice shows, sometimes very effective head-on flash in daylight, which is unacceptable when photographing people, for example, at night. When using a light diffuser, the guide number of the flash is lost, which, even with fast synchronization, is less than usual. With fast synchronization, the flash makes a series of pulses with a huge frequency (about 50 KHz), the human eye does not see this, but at the same time the distance from which the flash can illuminate the subject is reduced. You can read how to increase the range of the flash in the section.
High speed synchronization. The flash highlighted the subject and added contrast.
Conclusions:
A flash during the day is just as useful as a flash at night, the main thing is to set it up correctly and remember that to get good pictures it would be nice to have a fast synchronization mode between the flash and the camera.
Help the project. Thank you for your attention. Arkady Shapoval.
Most of our most vivid memories come from summer holidays at sea, trips with friends to nature, walks in the warm rays of the sun. I want all the photos I take to turn out great, and sometimes it’s annoying to discover that the photos are not clear enough and faces are overexposed.
Setting the light correctly when taking photographs is 50% of success, but what if you have to take photographs outside on a hot sunny day? Let's take a closer look at options for shooting portraits in bright sunlight.
Take photos in the shade
The simplest thing you can do is to place the model in the shade, where the subject is not exposed to direct sunlight: near a tall building, under a tree. The main thing is that the shadow is uniform, otherwise unsightly dark spots will appear on the faces of those photographed, which are very difficult to get rid of even with the use of Photoshop. If there is no shadow nearby, it can be created using the black side of a reflector or a special umbrella.
Take photos with backlighting
In other words, turn the model away from the sun so that the rays fall on her back. Thus, the hair and body contours are highlighted, while the face remains in shadow. Depending on how high the sun is, the highlighted areas will only highlight the subject.
In any case, this option for posing the model will allow you to get a clear face in the photograph without a sharp transition from bright light to shadow.
You should also pay attention to how your camera lens perceives oncoming light. It may be necessary to close it in such lighting.
Use flash
Oddly enough, shooting with flash in bright sunlight can improve the quality of photos, and sometimes you simply cannot do without additional lighting. The main problem when shooting on a bright sunny day is the dark, heavy shadows formed under the nose and eyes of the model. The only thing that can make these shadows less noticeable is brightening the face with a flash. Experiment with the settings; decreasing or increasing the flash compensation will make the shadows look more natural.
Fill flash will make the background darker, adding extra contrast to the photo.
Use a reflector
In addition to flash, using a reflector will help smooth out shadows on the model's face. It should be placed at the bottom so that the rays of reflected light highlight the chin, areas under the nose and under the eyes. Fortunately, now there are a huge variety of compact reflectors that are convenient to carry with you.