Outdoor pics in bright sunshine?

It just seems like there is so much to learn about taking pics.

On a nice day off I went out with a friend and took a bunch of pics that resulted in alot both blown highlights and dark shadows. She was wearing a white hat (so that was overexposed but not a huge area of importance) and the face had the dark shadows. If she took of the hat then we faced the problem of squinty eyes.
What came to my mind was getting some sort of reflector to bounce the sun from a ground position to her face.

2 Q's
1. Is this a good method or idea?
2. What would these reflectors be called?

I would prefer the hat, and under expose the shot a little and shoot with a little fill flash to bring your subject up to the proper exposure. A reflector can also help a little with this.

1. Yes
2. Reflector

Fill flash would be best for a situation like this. Unless you have someone or something to hold the reflector, you're going to have a hard time getting and keeping the reflector in place while you take the picture. By the way, I second what ryant said.

Move your subject into the shade or shoot on an overcast day..

yogestee wrote in post #8468709
Move your subject into the shade or shoot on an overcast day..

Amen.

yogestee wrote in post #8468709
Move your subject into the shade or shoot on an overcast day..

It depends on where you live, here is Socal we've only had a handful of overcast days in the past 5 or 6 months.

ryant35 wrote in post #8469017
It depends on where you live, here is Socal we've only had a handful of overcast days in the past 5 or 6 months.

Oooohhh, my heart bleeds! Come over here to the UK and enjoy our summer. I can safely say the opposite to you that we have only had a handful of sunny days in the past 5 or 6 months!

elitejp wrote in post #8467557
It just seems like there is so much to learn about taking pics.

On a nice day off I went out with a friend and took a bunch of pics that resulted in alot both blown highlights and dark shadows. She was wearing a white hat (so that was overexposed but not a huge area of importance) and the face had the dark shadows. If she took of the hat then we faced the problem of squinty eyes.
What came to my mind was getting some sort of reflector to bounce the sun from a ground position to her face.

2 Q's
1. Is this a good method or idea?
2. What would these reflectors be called?

You would be lifting the shadows from her face but the harsh light will be there, from here you have 2 options:

1) Tame the sun using a diffuser and reflectors
2) Flag the sun from her and use strobes (hot shoe or studio)


with option one: you will need some help and to use a translucent reflector that diffuse the sun´s light and make the light softer and a reflector to lift the shadows.

with option two: In some cine and photo productions the sun is great for the place you are shooting but you may want to flag the sun from the person and the lighting as you want it this gives you flexibility to do things as you like contrary to adding the sun to your subject lighting .

If you are searching for a reflector... that´s the name for it , check out in stores there are different sizes and materials (white, silver, gold) and check out diffusers too they come in the same foldable frame like reflectors have!

Good luck!