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 Ann Maughan is a family and international brand photographer based in small-town Northern Utah. She has been a business owner for 13.5 years, and also runs a successful and award-winning associate team. Kylee hosts semi-annual retreats, speaks at conferences and teaches online courses about running a small business and marketing. Her niche in coaching is helping moms turn their passion into profit, while being the mom they dream of.
December 17, 2015
Kylee Maughan
