I love shooting outdoors! There’s something so special and enticing about using natural lighting for photoshoots. You obtain this unique and strong glow from the powerful sun. As much as I love shooting outdoors, the sunlight can be a bit harsh at times and the weather may not always like to be in our favor. So I’m here to let you in on a few tips + tricks that I’ve found helpful when shooting outdoors!
Time of Day. My favorite time to start my shoots is approximately 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes before sunset. This time of day is known as Golden Hour. This means the sun won’t be directly above the subject. When the sun is positioned above my subjects, they experience harsh lighting and extremely dark shadowing. In turn, it makes my editing process a lot more difficult! I gotta love my Golden Hour shoots!!
Positioning subjects to have the sun behind them. I always position my subjects to have their backs to the sun. This helps keep their faces completely shaded and provides a gorgeous glow of light emitting from behind them. This makes your subjects stand out beautifully!
Effectively use wind to your advantage. We all love those “hair flowing in the wind” shots, don’t we?? Well, when dealing with soft winds, you can use it to your advantage by placing your subject to where the breeze can gently blow on their back so their hair can gloriously flow in the wind. However, when faced with high winds, find shelter!! Find a wall or object that your subject can stand against to shield them from the high winds and you can still obtain a beautiful shot.
I hope you found these tips helpful. Definitely try them out at your next shoot, and let me know how it went!