How do you deal with harsh sunlight and avoid overexposing your shots?

1 Choose the right time

One of the simplest ways to avoid harsh sunlight is to choose the right time of day to shoot. The golden hour, which is the hour after sunrise and before sunset, is ideal for creating soft and warm light that enhances the colors and textures of your subject. The blue hour, which is the hour before sunrise and after sunset, is also great for creating a cool and serene atmosphere with low light. Avoid shooting at noon, when the sun is directly overhead and casts harsh shadows and highlights.

2 Adjust your exposure

Another way to deal with harsh sunlight is to adjust your exposure settings according to the lighting conditions. Exposure is the amount of light that reaches your camera sensor, and it is controlled by three factors: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Aperture is the size of the opening in your lens that lets in light, shutter speed is the length of time that your camera shutter stays open, and ISO is the sensitivity of your camera sensor to light. To avoid overexposing your shots, you need to balance these three factors to achieve the correct exposure for your scene. You can use the exposure meter in your camera or the histogram on your LCD screen to check if your exposure is correct. A general rule of thumb is to expose for the highlights, meaning you should adjust your settings so that the brightest parts of your scene are not blown out or clipped.

3 Use a filter

A filter is a piece of glass or plastic that you attach to your lens to modify the light that enters your camera. Filters can help you deal with harsh sunlight in various ways, depending on the type and purpose of the filter. For example, a polarizing filter can reduce glare and reflections from shiny surfaces, such as water, glass, or metal, and also enhance the contrast and saturation of colors. A neutral density filter can reduce the amount of light that enters your camera, allowing you to use a slower shutter speed or a wider aperture without overexposing your shots. A graduated neutral density filter can darken the sky while keeping the foreground bright, creating a more balanced exposure.

5 Embrace the contrast

Finally, you can also embrace the contrast and use it to your advantage. Contrast is the difference between the dark and light areas in your photo, and it can create a dramatic and striking effect. You can use contrast to emphasize shapes, lines, patterns, textures, and colors in your scene. You can also use contrast to create silhouettes, which are dark outlines of your subject against a bright background. To create silhouettes, you need to expose for the background and let your subject go dark. You can also use contrast to create high-key or low-key images, which are images that are predominantly bright or dark, respectively. To create high-key images, you need to overexpose your scene slightly and use a bright background. To create low-key images, you need to underexpose your scene slightly and use a dark background.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?