How to use sunlight to shoot?

Lead: Whether shooting portraits, landscapes or other subjects, sunshine is also a kind of light that people love and hate. Although the subject can receive enough light, its uncertain light direction (and intensity) is often a headache. So how can we make good use of sunlight to shoot professional photography? Here are three methods, let's refer to them together!

How to shoot 1 in sunlight? Backlight gives a soft feeling.

"Backlight" means that the light source is behind the subject, but the exposure is subject to the subject. The background of the photo will be overexposed, but the main body is exposed normally, which can make the photo bring out a soft feeling. If you take a portrait photo, you can take a golden photo that oozes from your hair!

Second, take a silhouette.

I like the setting when shooting at the first point, but the exposure is based on the background (sky/sun), so if the light difference between the subject and the background is large enough, the subject will become a silhouette! Sometimes you can also deliberately dim the overall exposure (for example, use the -EV method in aperture priority mode) to make the silhouette stand out. It should also be noted that the focus needs to fall on the subject to keep the outline sharp.

Third, use flash or reflector to fill the light.

If you want to shoot a clear subject and keep the background exposed correctly, you can try to fill the subject with a flash or a reflector, which can kill two birds with one stone! Some students are worried that the flash will make the photo look "fake". In fact, just use colored paper or filter to adjust the color of the flash to the same color as the background light. Of course, you can also adjust the intensity yourself and let the flash blend into the background light!

Fourth, some shoot in direct sunlight. main points

1, autofocus may fail.

Just like shooting in a very dark environment, shooting directly at the sun may cause autofocus to fail. At this time, you can block the sun by hand, press the focus subject in half before composition, or focus directly by hand.

2. White balance may be affected.

Under strong light, the white balance will be affected. You can take a few photos to adjust the white balance first, or you can take RAW files on your computer to modify the white balance.

3. Don't stay in the sun for too long.

Leaving the camera in direct sunlight for a long time may damage the photosensitive element, so don't let the camera face the sun for a long time!

4. Carefully consider the shooting time.

If you have time to plan your shooting schedule, you can consider the position and influence of the sun at different times. For example, at noon, the sun is often overhead, which will form an ugly shadow on your face. And the sunshine at dusk will have warm colors, which makes it feel special.

5. Make good use of other external light sources.

You don't have to use a flash when you fill the light. You can watch other external light sources carefully, such as the reflection of water and glass, or the light of street lamps and flames, which can also make your work more distinctive!

6. Later magic

To balance the light difference between the sky and the subject, you can also use a method similar to HDR, that is, take two photos of the same scene with different exposures to the background and the subject, and then put them together with software (such as Photoshop). Of course, you can also do a similar effect on RAW files.