Most people are amazed to hear that for many photographers sunlight is the WORST lighting imaginable. It is just too contrasty, particularly in the middle of the day. Shadows are deep and black, sunlit areas look bleached to white.
I usually don't even carry a camera for a walk in the woods if the sun is full out and it is not close to sunrise or sunset. (One exception might be after a winter snow when I really DO want to capture shadows as the subject.)
Normally if you are forced to shoot a portrait in pure sun you have a few ways to mitigate the strong contrast.
Try to get the subject into the shade
Use a reflector to throw some light back into the shadow areas
Use a flash to throw light into the shadows
Put the sun directly behind the person, i.e. put them in their own shadow
Bottom Line: Sunlight, particularly in mid-day, is a difficult light. Avoid it or modify it.
Left
Right
Abject sunlight, with typical nasty shadows. Sometimes it doesn't come out this badly — sometimes it is worse. On a beach or a snowy scene, the white surfaces may help send some light back into the shadows. In a clearing in the woods, the shadows might be even blacker.
100mm, f11, 1/350, ISO 800
The first thing to look for is some open shade, where you can get the subject out of that harsh sun. True, the background will be much lighter if it is still sunlit, but generally we don't care as much about the background.
100mm, f11, 1/250, ISO 800
Add a white reflector. There is a 3' white reflector just out of the photo to Nicole's left. It could be white cardboard, newspaper, a white truck — anything to send some light into those shadows.
100mm, f11, 1/1000, ISO 800
Use a flash. Here an on-camera flash added light to the shadows — you can see it as a point of light in Nicole's eyes. Some people like the highlight it adds to the eyes. I find this look still too harsh. I might try this with an off-camera flash and a diffusing box, but now the situation is getting hairy. The wind will always knock the fill-flash softbox over just when you get the right amount of light coming from it, unless you have sandbags to hold it down or an assistant to hold it.
100mm, f22, 1/200, Speedlite fill-flash, ISO 800
Putting the sun behind the subject — I find this can really work, but you have to let the camera know that you are playing games here. You have to set it to give you much more exposure, otherwise the bright sky is exposed just right but the face is gone.
100mm, f22, 1/180, ISO 800
Longer shutter speed and a healthy dose of lightening up the image in the computer has allowed me to take a fairly soft light image in harsh sun, with no flash or reflector.
100mm, f11, 1/45, ISO 800
Here a flash is used to throw light back into the shadow areas, but as it was a naked on-camera flash, the effect is a bit harsh. If you can deal with the extra hassle, a softbox off to the side can provide a softer fill.
100mm, f13, 1/200, Speedlite fill-flash, ISO 800
Here a reflector helps a bit, but not much. The backlight from the sky is so strong that even a 3' white disc is not helping much. Nicole was holding the white reflector in her hands.
100mm, f11, 1/180, ISO 800
Abject sunlight, with typical nasty shadows. Sometimes it doesn't come out this badly — sometimes it is worse. On a beach or a snowy scene, the white surfaces may help send some light back into the shadows. In a clearing in the woods, the shadows might be even blacker.
100mm, f11, 1/350, ISO 800
The first thing to look for is some open shade, where you can get the subject out of that harsh sun. True, the background will be much lighter if it is still sunlit, but generally we don't care as much about the background.
100mm, f11, 1/250, ISO 800
Add a white reflector. There is a 3' white reflector just out of the photo to Nicole's left. It could be white cardboard, newspaper, a white truck — anything to send some light into those shadows.
100mm, f11, 1/1000, ISO 800
Use a flash. Here an on-camera flash added light to the shadows — you can see it as a point of light in Nicole's eyes. Some people like the highlight it adds to the eyes. I find this look still too harsh. I might try this with an off-camera flash and a diffusing box, but now the situation is getting hairy. The wind will always knock the fill-flash softbox over just when you get the right amount of light coming from it, unless you have sandbags to hold it down or an assistant to hold it.
100mm, f22, 1/200, Speedlite fill-flash, ISO 800
Putting the sun behind the subject — I find this can really work, but you have to let the camera know that you are playing games here. You have to set it to give you much more exposure, otherwise the bright sky is exposed just right but the face is gone.
100mm, f22, 1/180, ISO 800
Longer shutter speed and a healthy dose of lightening up the image in the computer has allowed me to take a fairly soft light image in harsh sun, with no flash or reflector.
100mm, f11, 1/45, ISO 800
Here a flash is used to throw light back into the shadow areas, but as it was a naked on-camera flash, the effect is a bit harsh. If you can deal with the extra hassle, a softbox off to the side can provide a softer fill.
100mm, f13, 1/200, Speedlite fill-flash, ISO 800
Here a reflector helps a bit, but not much. The backlight from the sky is so strong that even a 3' white disc is not helping much. Nicole was holding the white reflector in her hands.
