Place the sun behind you?

<p>I have to admit. I am terrified of the sun and I dont know how to work with direct sunlight when photographing groups. If it comes out from the clouds, I start freaking out. <br>

This past weekend in particular. We went to a park with the bridal party and the sun was out with no clouds. There was no shade and I dont have anything big enough to make my own shade for an entire bridal party. The only thing I can think of is the shadow filled, contrasty, squinty mess of pictures that I would get.<br>

I see that some people say to put the sun behind you, but then everyone starts squinting and depending on how high the sun is in the sky, I get shadows in the eyes. <br>

If I try to put the sun behind them it works well most of the time (if I dont get lens flare). But then the background gets blown out since I am exposing for the shaded area of the subjects. I could hardly use fill flash unless I brough my studio equipment out with me so what do I do?</p>

<p>I try to shoot later in the day say after 2:00pm when the sun starts to set lower in the sky.</p>

<p><em>I could hardly use fill flash unless I brough my studio equipment out with me so what do I do?</em><br /><br />Bring your studio equipment out with you.<br /><br />Or, get enough speedlights and suitable triggering technology to fill those shadows with more portable gear. You don't mention what camera system you're using... but I can handle situations like what you describe using a couple of Nikon speedlights. <br /><br />Much more important though: choosing a location and a time of day that gives you the control you need over the light. If you simply cannot influence location/time, then you need to influence (provide) light. You're up against the laws of physics, here. Luckily, remote controlled speedlights are simple to use, powerful, and easy to gel for color temp matching.</p>

<p>It depends (IMHO) on what time of day it is. Late afternoon/early evening and I love having the sun at about 45° to the group.</p>

<p>Mid day and that awful harsh overhead sun? Put the sun behind them, pop on a wider angle lens (so that you can get closer to the group - but be careful about distorting them), under-expose the scene by a full two-stops, and use a speedlight/flash set to over-expose by 1.5 stops (set the EV +1.5 on the flash, not the camera).</p>

<p>Under-exposing the scene will help lessen the overblown sky and the over-exposed flash will bring the group back into proper exposure.</p>

<p>ed, when you shoot later in the day do you put the sun behind you or the subject?<br>

Matt, I really dont have any control over the time of day when shooting weddings. I can only suggest good times for pictures to them. <br>

If the sun is lower in the sky do you prefer to use it as a key light or a seperation/hair light placed behind the subject? If you use it as the main light how do you deal with squinting?</p>

 

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<p><em>Matt, I really dont have any control over the time of day when shooting weddings. I can only suggest good times for pictures to them.</em></p>

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<p>Andrew, while you are correct, you do have some control and influence. I typically scout the locations at the same time of day that I will be shooting. Of course, I keep my eye on the weather reports so that I try to scout under the same conditions as that day, too.</p>

<p>Usually, but not always, I can find spots that are suitable for individuals, couples, and groups. This allows the client to specify where they want pictures but gives you the control over how to shoot at that location.</p>

<p>But, for those times that you can't control it enough, use a couple of flash heads. They are well worth the investment and, after a couple of weddings, you should have them paid for.</p>

<p>Shoot RAW and fix it in ACR. But also don't be so anal about flash. That's what it's for.</p>

<p>Emily must have a camera w/ a very high dynamic range. All the prosumer level cameras by Nikon, Canon, et all cover 8-9 EV ranges in 1/3 incriments. That means that if your highlights are 2 full stops over the shadow, then you have lost data even in raw b/c it's blown out.</p>

<p>The sun can do this even if you only give a 1/2 stop from 18% for the shadows to fall in. I shoot w/ the sun at an angle, either back or front (if there's clouds) and use fill flash for single or two person shots. With a group, I'd look for a white wall to put behind me to use as a fill bounce, and place the sun at angle behind the subjects to avoid flare.</p>

<p>Sun behind the subjects, fill flash. If you flash isn't powerful enough, get a more powerful flash. Most top of the line shoe mounts will, on full power, fill ISO 100, f11, 1/250th (sun exposure) at a distance of up to about 10 feet at a 35mm zoom angle (assuming 1 stop under fill). Or overexpose the sun about a stop, which helps on the fill distance capability. As for flare, use a hood and/or have someone hold a gobo between the sun and the lens. With smaller groups or couples, your distance is extended, plus with couples, you can manually zoom the flash head for even more distance. The other thing is, you should try to get even shadow side light on your subjects.</p>

<p>I agree with most of the recommendations here. For squinty eyes, you can have everybody close their eyes and on a count of "three" you can have everybody open their eyes while you trip the shutter(worse case scenario).</p>

<p>Another vote for a sack of speedlights here. My sack has six "old" Vivitar 285HVs and at least a dozen sets of recently-charged AAs and cheap optical or radio slaves. Hand 'em to bystanders, lay 'em on the ground, put 'em on lightweight stands or really lightweight tripods.Put the sun anywhere other than within 75 degrees of straight in their faces so they don't start to squint.</p>

<p>Van</p>

<p>I do a lot of outdoor shoots. I offten pt the sun behind me and off to the side a bit. And again fill lights and reflectors to fill in the shadows.</p><div></div>

<p>So to summarize:<br>

expose for the highlights, fill so the fill is about 1.5 stop less than highlight, use a wall of the church or a building to reflect light into the scene. use shadows from trees or whatever when possible (keep the sunlit scene out of the picture if you're unsure), be as close to the group as you can without distortion (keep your camera level) to maximize a low powered flash. Your f stop and shutter speed is the key. In the example the baby is not moving (still) at the top of the throw so a slower shutter speed could have been possible. The Sunny 16 rule says this exposure was most likely f 16 at the reciprocal of the ISO. If my camera flash sink is 1/250 then I set my ISO at 200 or higher and my shutter speed at the same as my ISO then pop in my flash changing the only remaining variable - my f stop until I am pleased with the results (not burning out the sky, not underexposing the subjects, not burning out the subjects - then I know I'm ok.<br>

Excellent example. Remember to practice alot before you try any of this on clients.</p>