Mid day

I may get the opportunity to photograph a lady friend of mine, from school, tomorrow afternoon. We're going to the park on a "date," but she has mentioned something about wanting a portrait session done because she hated how her senior portraits came out last year. I think it's a good opportunity because I've been wanting to get my foot in the door of natural lit, on location portraiture work for a long time. I told her I'd give her a whole shoot for free (it's my first one).

That being said, we're meeting at the park around 2:00pm and we plan on being there until around 5:30pm, so somewhere in that time frame we'll do the shoot. Anyways, both times being in the middle of the day where the sun is high and mighty will make for a rather difficult shoot (I can't get any cool lens flare, shadows are harsh, etc.).

I'm wondering if I could get some tips on shooting natural lit, on location photography in the middle of the day. I haven't checked the weather forcast for tomorrow, so I don't know how the weather is going to cooperate, but I've heard it's supposed to be sunny and warm.

My #1 recommendation would be to stay in the shade - trees, gazebos, awnings.

If you must shoot into the sun, remember the "Sunny-16" rule: In hard, direct sun, you'll get a proper exposure at f/16, 1/100 shutter speed, ISO100. If you want a larger aperture, simply make the shutter speed faster: open the aperture up a stop to f/11, and double the shutter speed to 1/200... or two stops to f/8 and 1/400... or three stops to f/5.6 and 1/800.. and so on.

Once you step into the shade you can't use the "Sunny-16" rule any more, you'll need more exposure than that. If you're in the shade, don't be afraid to overexpose the background to get a proper exposure on the subject.

If you must be in the direct sun, try to keep the sun behind her - facing into the sun means a scrunched-up face and squinty eyes. If you need to, use a little fill flash to even out the exposure and make a catchlight in her eyes. The pop-up flash may work for this, as long as you use it judiciously... don't try to overpower the sun, just use it at a medium-low power to soften the harsh shadows made by direct sun... but now you're getting into flash sync speed, which can complicate things since you can't take your shutter speed any faster than about 1/200 (maybe 1/250 if using the pop-up flash).

Shade will be your best friend; if you have a reflector bring it as you can redirect the diffused light that comes through the trees to illuminate your subject.

Pay close attention to your background and constantly ask yourself; is the background adding or distracting to my intended shot, allowing you to adjust your aperture accordingly.

If you have any ND filters they can help you maintain your 2.8 for maximum subject isolation while keeping the background in check.