situational tip one: harsh lighting

Welcome back!  This week I want to focus on lighting.  Many of us think that a bright, sunny day is the ideal situation in which to photograph.  It might be great for the photographer (few of us feel motivated on a dreary day), but it can present a few challenges for the photograph itself.

When shooting in bright daylight conditions, we often encounter what is called uneven lighting - harsh, dark shadows and bright, washed-out highlights.  Our cameras see differently than we do.  Human sight consists of a range of 11 stops, whereas our cameras are limited to a range of 5 stops.  [Stops are the increments measured in the aperture setting of the lens - the pupil of the camera.]  Due to this limitation we see a loss of detail in those dark shadows and blown-out highlights.

Check out the examples below.  I was outdoors near a fountain on a bright day and wanted to snap a quick photo of my niece and nephew - who wouldn't, right? They're adorable!

Makayla and Logan - with auto settings, Nikon COOLPIX S3000

In the image above I simply photographed in the automatic setting using a Nikon point-and-shoot camera - COOLPIX S3000.  As you can see, the shadows falling on their faces are obstructing our view of the face as a whole.  This is an unfortunate distraction.  I always prefer to use the natural light available to produce a more natural and soft look to the image, but in this situation I will need to use the Fill Flash feature.

Makayla and Logan - with Fill-in Flash, Nikon COOLPIX S3000

Flash button

For this second shot I accessed the flash setting on the camera which is always represented as a button with a lightning bolt/arrow (see image to left).  Standard flash settings on a point-and-shoot camera might include: No Flash, Auto Flash, Flash and Fill-in Flash.  I chose Fill Flash which will only fire off a small burst of artificial light to fill-in those dark shadow areas with more light.  If for some reason your camera does not have the Fill Flash feature, you might also be able to control the strength of the Flash in an advanced setting found under Functions or Menu.  Always maintain a good proximity to your subject when using artificial light - close enough to allow the light to illuminate the subject but not too close to blow out the image with excess flash.  Using the Fill Flash in this image has now allowed me to clear those shadows by throwing in just enough artificial light to balance the natural bright highlights.

Makayla and Logan - final image, Nikon COOLPIX S3000

So now that I have control over the exposure, I want to make my creative choices and check that the composition is good.  I have my subjects placed slightly off-center to the left to allow the curve of the fountain's edge to lead your eyes to the focal point.  This composition follows the rule of thirds - a practice of most photographers which involves composing an image in thirds, horizontally and/or vertically.  Also, since I am photographing people, I want to be sure that I can see everyone's face and that the poses are flattering.  With a little direction - and probably a bribe or two - I quickly and briefly directed my niece and nephew to pose as seen above in the final shot.  

I hope that this step-by-step example will help inform your strategy next time you encounter an uneven lighting situation.  Aside from using artificial light (flash settings), you can also reposition your subjects if possible to face the light source and minimize the shadows altogether.  

Remember, flash settings are not only for indoor photographs!