Photography Friday {Metering in Bright Sun}
March 3, 2012 by Aimee • 13 Comments
Digital Photography Friday {Metering in Bright Sun}
1. DON’T shoot into the sun! Try your best to find some shade. Shade will help you avoid shadows on the face of your sweeties! Find a spot where it’s bright, but not intense light so that the light your camera is absorbing is even. Be careful about find shade under tress because the glimmer of light coming down can leave your subject spotted! Try to avoid facing your camera directly towards the sun or you’ll end up with a silhouette photograph. And try to avoid having your sweeties face the harsh sun directly or you’ll end up with TEARS!!! Been there…done that! Got the picture to prove it!
2. Consider using flash. I know…YUCK! And this is NOT, I repeat myself NOT coming from my hubby. But at some moments, when you have the option of TEARS {see above} or shooting towards the sun…if you use flash to brighten your subject, you can obtain the picture you’re needing to capture, without the flash, your subjects will be dark if the sun is behind them.
3. Use a reflector. Almost any why surface can reflect light if it’s held at the right angle. Reflectors are great for bouncing light off of the sun and onto your subject. An idea…wear a white sweatshirt or jacket or throw a white pillow case or aluminum foil into your camera bag for moments when your sweeties bright smiles are seeming to be washed out!
4. If you’re feeling like you’ve got photography figured out…try shooting your sweeties towards the sun and attempt taking silhouette shots! Let your creativity run wild!!!
{via}
Bright Sun Digital Camera Settings.
For those of you that have moved into the manual mode of your digital SLR camera, here’s a little info on metering your camera in sunny spots! If you haven’t read about the exposure triangle yet…start here. If you’re read about the exposure triangle, but need a little refresher on metering…here’s a meter tips link for you! Just as you’ve seen with indoor photography, every camera is a bit different so you’ll definitely need to get to know your best bud and you’ll have AWESOME photographs and publishers begging for your pics!!! Below are some suggested settings, but it’s not a magic formula so make little adjustments until you impress yourself with a picture perfect shot!
- You will want a high shutter speed will let less light into the camera’s lens and work best in sunny outdoor pictures. Adjust the shutter speed to 1/500 or even higher!
- Change your ISO as low as possible because this will help your camera and it’s sensitivity to light issues. Making the ISO low won’t allow your camera to absorb so much light so that your pics will be clearer!
- And change your aperture to a high number…like 15 or higher! The aperture is the lens opening and the higher the number, the less light that will come in, offering a much more clear image in the crazy harsh sunlight!
We want good exposure, not over-exposure! Definitely these settings will help LOTS when outside on a sunny day…remember though…practice makes perfect…so give it a try and keep on adjusting until you have the meter line centered! If the picture appears too bright or too dark adjust the shutter speed and aperture until you get a GREAT shot! Every camera is a bit different so get to know your best bud and you’ll have AWESOME photographs and publishers begging for your pics!!! As you take these pictures…don’t try to shoot a moving object or anything…just pick an item to focus on outside on a bright sunny day and meter until you reach a perfect balance of exposure!!!
Thanks again for the great photography tutorials. I may have missed one or two so I need to go back and make sure I get it all. I.AM.TOTALLY.CLUELESS! But this is helping!!!
You are awesome Aimee!!! How would you feel about me referring to your photography friday features in one of my posts and linking back to you? Let me know what you think, okay?
I’m going to Big Bend for spring break! I am super excited to take some awesome pictures with my new T3i!
We just bought our tickets yesterday and we are officially going to Paris for Spring Break! Cannot wait to use these tips to get some amazing photos while we are there!! Thanks for doing this every Friday!
OMG! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can’t wait to read through the lesson more carefully, but I had to thank you first. I will post more later.
Thanks for all your tips. They’re always so helpful!
I look forward to your photography tutorials. We are going to stay home and work, work, work on the main living area. Thanks for sharing all your creative inspiration at Sunday’s Best.
We are going to Cabo in May, you have helped me so much, I’m going to go back over everything before we leave to make sure I get great photos!
Great tips as always! I’d love it if you would consider linking with Busy Monday (open Monday through Thursdays) at A Pinch of Joy, a linky party for ideas that make life better, easier and more fun!
I love the idea of carrying a white pillow case or aluminum foil in your camera case as a reflector. I’ll definitely be taking one along now on my spring break trip to Europe. Super excited! I’ll be sharing my photos at http://www.kidsenRoute.com from March 19-Apr 4 if you’d like to check them out. Thanks again for sharing!
kate @ http://www.kidsenRoute.com
Just looking thru Pinterest and man I’m glad I found you. Thanks for how you explain these processes. Keep up the good work,you’re fun to read. I’ll keep coming back for more, just started taking pictures with my I have a Canon T3i, I love taking any kind of pictures.
Thanks
Those bluebonnets… You wouldn’t happen to be the lady taking pictures of her little ones in the (bluebonnet filled) median of 635 in Dallas last spring, would you?
Thanks for the tutorials! It’s been a great refresher!
No, thankfully we have friends with lots and lots of acres flowing with bluebonnets! XO, Aimee