Shooting into the sun is no easy task. Sometimes there’s funky sun flare going through your photo and other times there’s so much sun that you can’t see a thing. It’s hard to focus, impossible to meter and hurts your eyeballs. BUT there is nothing more romantic and beautiful than that soft sun flare lighting up the background. So even though it’s hard, it must be done…and here’s how:
1. Choose the right time of day.
Find out when the sun sets and schedule your session within an hour of that. This is called golden hour. The light will be low, soft and beautiful.
2. Do not use your light meter.
There will be so much light coming into your sensor that your camera will not be able to read it all. You have to set your settings and expose for your subject’s skin without relying on your meter.
3. Use smaller aperture than normal.
If you are shooting a session at f/2.8 you will probably want to close it down to f/4.5 or greater. It’s easy to miss your focus with a wide aperture and even easier with the sun interfering.
3. Use your hand as a shield
to block the sun while you get your focus. Lock your focus then move your hand. If that doesn’t work, you may need to turn off auto focus and manually focus your lens.
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Kylee started Kylee Ann Photography 9 years ago, and has since grown from a one woman amateur show to a full associate team. We shoot 50-75 weddings a year, and thrive on kindness and service. After a year of teaching Intro to Photography at the local technical college, she discovered that helping other entrepreneurs create thriving businesses is what fires her up! She hosts semi-annual Kylee Ann Sleepovers all over the US, speak at conferences and teach online courses about running a small business and marketing.
December 17, 2015
Kylee Maughan
