Shooting outside the Golden Hours

SabrinaO · Apr 12, 2011

Anyone do it? Can you post your pics? What do you do and what are your techniques on getting some nice lighting if and when you shoot when the sun is high and bright? I don't want to be limited to only a few hours shooting on location so I just want to see if this is possible!

rehab · Apr 12, 2011

being limited to a few hours is sometimes all your subject can take, and again this could have been wrapped up into a single thread honestly but since i am new here I will just be as contributing as possible. Someone already pointed out that you should stick to shade as much as possible. If theres clouds, wait for it to cover the sun, if not shoot them so the sun is at your 5, 6, or 7 o clock position.

this was shot at 1pm on a very bright day

simpy · Apr 12, 2011

I shoot all day everyday. Here a couple from a shoot last week.

This was shot in the middle of the day with very little shade around. It was shot slight shade (the reflective surface of the way meant the shade was not very dark) a silver reflector is placed directly under the chin resting on the model it was so close and an sb900 was placed camera right on a small softbox.

Here is a shot from the same shoot with the sun as a backlight (the washed out effect was intensional and used to set the mood) An s900 bounced off the wall and a flector very close in was used for this.

And again one more from the same shoot, this time shot in direct sun light from above. For this i used an sb900 on full power shot into a small softbox and about 5 ft directly in-front of the subject subject i also a large silver reflector place just below the subject. The sun is directly behind the subject and the result means its a little to hot on the forhead but not bad for so much light.

Big Mike · Apr 12, 2011

SabrinaO said:
Anyone do it? Can you post your pics? What do you do and what are your techniques on getting some nice lighting if and when you shoot when the sun is high and bright? I don't want to be limited to only a few hours shooting on location so I just want to see if this is possible!

Unless you are shooting out in the middle of a barren dessert, you will likely be able to find some spots that aren't right out in the open. If you look hard enough, you'll likely be able to find locations that can give you beautiful, soft side lighting. Some spots may be idea in the morning, but not so great later in the day....other spots may be best in the afternoon etc. If you have a location in mind, scout it out a day early, around the time that you'd be shooting.

simpy · Apr 15, 2011

Big Mike said:
SabrinaO said:

Anyone do it? Can you post your pics? What do you do and what are your techniques on getting some nice lighting if and when you shoot when the sun is high and bright? I don't want to be limited to only a few hours shooting on location so I just want to see if this is possible!

Click to expand...

Unless you are shooting out in the middle of a barren dessert, you will likely be able to find some spots that aren't right out in the open. If you look hard enough, you'll likely be able to find locations that can give you beautiful, soft side lighting. Some spots may be idea in the morning, but not so great later in the day....other spots may be best in the afternoon etc. If you have a location in mind, scout it out a day early, around the time that you'd be shooting.

I second that. Almost anywhere has some shade to use.

Good use of fill flash can work well even i direct sun also.

camz · Apr 15, 2011

Yes I agree you can shoot anytime of day. This was my last shoot with all flash and it was with the kids a few months ago for fun

. All done with one flash and a softbox and no shade. With one flash the tricky part to shooting at this time is I had to have the light source really really close to the kids, literally it was just outside the frame. But if you have two flashes it really will do you wonders, you can literally shoot high noon peak of summer in the sahara desert. LOL

Happy shooting!