ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Photographing People Having Fun in the Sun

Updated on October 8, 2013
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0 | Source

Photographers constantly strive to bring emotive, realistic, pleasing and just plain extraordinary photographs to the forefront. It is an art and like many art forms sometimes it is difficult to get noticed mainly due to the large number of competitors all vying for the same recognition.

Many art forms face some difficult techniques regardless of what the art form entails and in photography very few instances present the photographer a challenge like shooting during the brightest part of the day but it can still be done with great outcomes.

One project which is quite marketable not only for photography based publications, greeting cards, book publishing and so on is one that captures moments when people or animals, are having "fun in the Sun" as it were. The project like its title insinuates, takes place in sunshine and its main principals are those who enjoy it. If the shoot takes place in an area that has nice vistas then consider submitting the photographs to a local tourist board as well.

Although we often associate a fun day in the Sun with going to the beach, there are plenty of other activities that can be included in the project.

For example, people relaxing while on a picnic, some animals frolicking in an open field, a child relaxing under the cool shade of a tree and so on.

Your images, to be representational of the theme, should be taken in direct sunshine although you must still be on guard not to capture images that are overpowered by this high contrasting light.

Diffused light is still the best alternative so long as the audience can tell that the subjects are interacting with each other or performing activities in the sunshine of the day.

When the sunlight is bright like when the Sun is high in the sky, the background of a landscape or any scene can often be extremely bright and your camera's meter can be tricked with foreground tones that are much darker than the rest of the scene. How do you compensate for this? By taking the shot with a full stop of underexposure.

This will allow the bright areas to show as natural tones while leaving other elements not directly under the influence of direct sunshine to appear a bit washed out but this can be easily fixed with a digital editing program.This is made possible by ignoring the default setting in most camera metering systems, which is often inadequate for harsh light, and overriding it.

A good technique is to focus on any element which is not being affected by direct harsh light and setting the meter for that reading, then composing the scene regularly and taking the shot. This is often referred to as bracketing.

Another good method to follow is to do close ups by either getting physically close to the subject or zooming in. This usually lets you see the scene in much more detail without the distraction caused by the harsh illumination.

If in doubt , then take a reading from any area that lies in a shadowed location and manually setting the meter.

Some good poses should include silhouettes and poses in which the subject is recognizable as to its form but not much else. Let the sunlight set the tone and without sacrificing the technique compose the shot to capture a pleasant overall image.

Remember that the human eye is capable of seeing detail in even the brightest situations but your camera meter is not. Pay attention to the main point of focus when composing the shot but equally to the background as it can often show up as washed out highlights which will more than likely prove to be a huge distraction for your audience.

Also take note of your ISO (International Organization of Standardization) setting as bright sunshine lends itself well for a lower ISO than normal. A low ISO setting allows the camera to capture much more detail with less camera noise.

When selecting shots keep in mind that your subjects need to be enjoying themselves and taking advantage of the bright sunny day which nature has afforded them. Smiles, happy kids running , pets playing all make for good set ups, people sunbathing or simply relaxing under the cool shade of a tree.

Be attentive to the care of your gear, sand, sea water and the heat of the day can all take their toll and some precautions are in place. Wipe the camera outer portions and lens surface often if shooting on the beach. Keep your camera away from the direct Sun when not in use and use a lens hood at all times to minimize the chances of catching bouncing light as it hits the interior of the lens.

CC BY-SA 2.0
CC BY-SA 2.0 | Source
CC0 1.0
CC0 1.0 | Source
Source

© 2013 Luis E Gonzalez

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)