Mirages by Marilyn

Learn About Open Shade

The biggest misconception I find people make with photography is that the more sunlight during the day, the better your picture.  I see a lot of people taking their photos out in high noon because "there's lots of light.  The sun's coming from that direction so face it and we'll be sure to get a good picture."  WRONG!  It may look good to you but on camera it's pretty ugly.  When the sun's up high in the sky, like at noon, the shadows fall on people's face and give a hideous appearance, similar to a scary movie.  Not to mention that squinty eye look is just fabulous.

Cute boy, I know :) but the shadows falling on his face are not the best for portraiture.  Now imagine if it was someone not so cute. (wrinkles anyone?)  I have made some mistakes with some adults but would never use them for example because they were just that unflattering. 

How do we fix high noon sun?

Never shoot at mid-day?  No, there's not always that luxury.  Lots of good things go on at mid-day.  Weddings, birthday parties, life, etc.  Here are some fixes:

Open Shade

This photo was taken right after the previous, only this time under a tree.  The shadows are softer, and you have a much more even light.  Make sure they are all the way under the shade, not half and half.

Put their backs to the sun

You get that even light with a little highlight around their hair like we talked about here.

Now to close, I would just like to add that there are always exceptions to this rule, and a matter of taste.  Some situations may look good in the mid-day sun but I am just trying to shine some light (no pun intended) on the mistake I see so commonly made because people haven't yet heard of "open shade."  Until next time, keep on shooting and keep on learning.