Use Open Shade for Better Outdoor Photos
A suggestion I often give people is to avoid shooting in direct sunlight and instead find shade. On bright days, locate an area where the shade begins and position your subject in the shade at that edge. This is called open shade as it’s like being next to a big bright window without the light falling on your subject directly. You get beautifully soft, directional light.
Note: Placing your subject under a tree is not the same as placing them in open shade unless there is a perfectly solid shadow for your entire subject. Speckles of light falling on their face or clothing will ruin the shot as your camera cannot expose for both the shadow and highlights at the same time (not on a bright day anyway).
See below for an open shade shot of my kids that I shot this past weekend (was only on my iPhone however). Being by the edge of sunlight explains why they appear to glow relative to the background. I was probably standing in direct sunlight to shoot this photo as they are very close to where the shade ends. Light from the street or opposing building was effectively bouncing into their faces to light them so well.
Shoot into the Light
Mark Wallace just covered this topic well for the AdoramaTV channel. He also explains when and how to shoot the other way as well (i.e. shoot towards the sunlit area while keeping your subject in the shade). Don’t forget to use exposure compensation when the background is a bright backlight (e.g. set exposure value to +1).
Many photography blogs have already covered this topic and they offer many sample photos to fully illustrate the technique.
You’ll create some amazing shots quite simply in open shade so give it a try.
Watch Episode 7: Qualities of Light of my Back to Basics series on YouTube to learn more about hard and soft light.
