A Tip for shooting people in direct, bright light

[Jamesino]

All of us who shoot outdoor portraits/glamours without studio strobes may come across a time where the sun light is perfect. Where the model's face glows with intensity and saturation until her skins seems to radiate a touch of magic that can not be emulated by anything else... the only problem is, the sun is directly in the model's eyes and she/he must squint in order to keep them open.

I technique that I have found, excuse me if this has been mentioned before, is to first set up the shot and find the correct composition. Then, instruct the model to close her/his eyes. Count to 3 and on that count, tell her/him to suddenly open his/her eyes and then you snap the shot. This method enables you to take shots with proper facial expression with the sun directly in front of the subject's face.

[DC Fan]

Turn the model around, facing away from the sun, and use flash as your main illumination.

http://www.fansview.com/2008/ndk/09142008c0108.jpg

This was taken around 6 p.m. in an atrium with a skylight around the rim. When the sun was streaming through the skylight at the right angle, it was time to use that sun as a back light. The illumination came from a Sunpak flash. No flash and the subject would have been a silhouette, but the flash evenly illuminated the subject.

[PhotosGuy]

Turn the model around, facing away from the sun, and use flash as your main illumination. And be careful of flare.

[poloman]

Flare is in the worst possible spot too.

[CannedHeat]

And learn to control your flash manually so you can control the light, especially when trying to overpower the sun.

[elader]

she's got a green nose. i kind of like that. :-)