Bad Moms Shoot: Fantastic Summer Photos

We all know that the best time of day for shooting photos is in the early morning or early evening.  If you did not know this already?  Now you do.

I could get all technical and such and explain about the fact that light is measured in….never mind.  Just trust me.  Early morning and early evening are the bomb diggity for lighting.

So what do you do it your finger is itching to take photos and it is the middle of the day with a bright, harsh  sun?  I might have a suggestion or two.  Hence this post.

The Shade Is Where It’s At

A blazing sun may be horrible for photos, but it does provide enough light so that you don’t need to bump your ISO so high that you get digital noise (grainy photos).  I like to drag my kids kicking and screaming encourage my kids to play in the shade so that I can get photos of them with some stellar lighting.

There may or my not have been promises of chocolate bars if they were willing models. You do what you have to do.

I love the light reflecting in her eyes in that one. (They’re called catch lights! Use the term and sound like a professional!)

What if you find yourself in the harsh midday sun and want to get snap happy, but there is no shade around?

You Need To Use A Flash

It sounds crazy, right?  I KNOW.  Here is the deal.  The sun is nasty for photos, yes, but there are tricks to use!  I promise!

The main idea behind it is that the sun, while all bright and nasty-shadow-creating, is not all-encompassing.  It casts great light, but only in one direction. I’m pulling out an old-school photo for this example.

We are left with shadows. That photo is not too extreme, but you get the idea.

When I want to get all fancy-pants, I pull out my external flash and fill the harsh shadows in with light.

(She pulled that cheesetastic pose on her own accord, I’ll have you know.)

Not everyone can justify spending money on an external flash, so what do you do?  There are options!

Diffuse Your Built-In Flash

The flash that is built into your camera is cheap.  It is extreme, and harsh, and really lame.  STEP AWAY FROM THE FLASH (Until later. Stay tuned).

I will show you what I mean.  I took this photo eons ago using my built-in flash.

Nuclear bombs, ahoy!

You can use a diffuser. (It makes the light not so APOCALYPSE-like.)

Put the sun BEHIND your subjects

People often think that making their subjects face the sun is GOOD.  Because then they are WELL-LIT.

They are also squinty and nasty-looking what with the black holes where the eyes should be.  No offense.  I have done the same.

The secret trick is to have your subjects facing you with the sun behind them.  While shooting a wedding last year, I gave this tip to a mom of a friend of the bride.  We moved the girls 180 degrees and the photo on her point-and-shoot was one hundred percent better.

If you can work it right, you can get a photo without any need for flash.

Sometimes, though, you need a flash.  What do you do if you do not have a diffuser?

Zoom From A Distance And Flash Away

I was in the yard with the kids and had not attached my external flash.  I zoomed to 200mm, and tried using the built-in flash.

(She slays me on an hourly basis, this girl of mine.)

Not too bad, if I do say so myself.  Emily was far enough away from the camera that the (LAME) built-in flash was not overpowering.

So.

For those of you that skip to the end of long posts (Not that I do that or anything. Heh.), here is a summary:

• Shoot in the shade whenever possible.
• If there is no shade, the sun should be BEHIND your subject
• Use a fill-flash (external), but not the built-in.  Unless;
• You have a diffuser, or;
• You are far away and are zoomed out in the 200mm range.

Truth be told, I mainly only use the fill flash when I’m working with clients. It’s bad enough being the Mom at the beach with the fifty-pound DSLR and lens that looks like a bazooka. I either position myself so I catch the kids with the sun behind them (if possible) or bribe ask them to come into the shade so I can take a nice photo of them.

Happy summer snapping, folks.