Harsh Light Photography

Wear some sunscreen and get out there!

Harsh light is also called full sun. Essentially, it’s any time the sun is not in a

golden/blue hour or overcast setting. That high noon, no hiding from it, sunshine. Most of us taking photos with our cell phones don’t really think about it. Some photographers hate it; others love it. I’m indifferent. I’ll shoot in about any situation I’m put in because the light is part of the story. I’ll go into some technical tips, along with tricks you can do with any camera.

Let’s start with the technical stuff. Usually you aren’t going to get the bokeh feel with a super low aperture of around 1-2.8. Likely, you’ll want it at 3 or higher. Knock that ISO down to 100, you are not going to need to adjust it at all. Your shutter speed is going to be higher as well because you don’t want to let as much light into the camera. If you are trying to keep the sky in and not blow it out, under expose the image a bit (not too much!). When you see your light meter in camera it can be a bit in the negative, ideally not over 1.

A note on light- try to get as much “right” in camera as possible. The camera collects data, if you set it so your images are too dark or too light the data is lost. No amount of post processing will bring the data back.

If you are taking photos of people, having them tip their heads up just slightly will get rid of a brow shadow. Unless the sun is exactly at noon or its highest point, there will always be an angle to back light your subject (placing light behind them). It may mean practically laying on the ground, but it is possible.

Harsh light is a great opportunity to play with contrast and composition. Contrast because with such bright light, the shadows will also be intense. Like the photo above, you can also use composition to create leading lines and have them highlighted with harsh light. When in doubt, find shade. Dappled light (through trees or other canopies) can create really cool shapes as well.

Another trick is to put a plastic sandwich bag around your lens (or even over your phone camera lens). This will catch a lot of the light causing fun light flares and bokeh-like accents. If you are shooting with your camera you’ll need to have your aperture 3.5 or lower. If it is higher the bag will be in focus and cause the image to look…well, like you have a plastic bag on your lens. I stated at the beginning that you’ll want your aperture 3 or higher, so to use the bag you’ll really need to play with settings and likely push your shutter speed to 1/2000 or higher.

And that’s it! Do NOT be afraid of harsh light, embrace it and make it your own. Go get weird!