ON LOCATION USING FLASH LIGHT IN THE SUN

Set up a flash in tricky midday conditions for bold portraits under the beating sun

01 FLASHES WITH SUNLIGHT

Some might think of flash as a tool to use for extra light in dim conditions, but bright sunlight is one of the best times to bring out a flash. The flash gives us lots of creative options, as we can use it to create dynamic cross-lighting like this, or gently fill in the shadows for a more natural look.

02 CROSS LIGHTING

The key to shooting portraits in the sun is to reduce the contrast over subjects. The flash lets us do this by filling in shadows. Our subject has her back to the sun, so it creates bold highlights along the edge of her figure. Positioned opposite, the flash lifts the shadows on the face and body.

03 EXPOSE FOR SUNLIGHT

The sunny f/16 rule can help work out a manual exposure. This says that in bright sunlight if your aperture is f/16 and ISO is X our shutter speed will be 1/X sec. So at ISO100 we’d need 1/100 sec. At these kinds of exposures, our flash will need to be at or near to full power.

04 PREVENT SQUINTING

Whether shooting with a flash or using a reflector, a problem you’ll often face with portraits in bright sunlight is squinting subjects. Try asking your subject to keep their eyes closed or look down, then give them a ‘3… 2… 1…’ countdown to briefly open their eyes for the shot. Alternatively, sunglasses can be a useful accessory!

05 OVERHEAD SUN

It’s often said that at midday the sun is directly overhead, but because of the tilt of the earth it’s never directly overhead (except for twice a year on the equator). As such, there’s always a slight angle to work with, even at noon, so you can position your subject with their back to the sun so it acts as a ‘kicker’ light, or facing into it.

06 UMBRELLAS AND MODIFIERS

Much like the light from the sun, a bare flash head produces hard-edged light that isn’t usually suited to portraits. With fill-flash it can result in awful doubleshadows that criss-cross the face. Any light from a small source is hardedged, so we need to enlarge the light source with a modifier like an umbrella.