Outdoor portraits

Learning goal

Under the noon sun, when you have no chance to choose the place, the time or the person, you will be able to save a portrait. When you meet hard overhead sun, you will follow a decision order that means moving into shade first, putting the sun behind the person if there is no shade, and adding fill to the face if that isn't enough either. You will learn why a face turned to the sun narrows its eyes and how to solve it, and try lowering the power of the fill flash just enough for the face to look natural. You will read the shadow that a brim such as a hat, a cap or a headscarf casts on the face. Knowing that the sun can darken the eye sockets on dark skin and make the forehead and nose shine on light skin, you will set the exposure and the fill according to the face itself.

The question

One last frame for the wedding album: the master wants to stand in front of the bakery, under the sign. It is close to noon; the sun is straight overhead. Your friend looks into the viewfinder and can't recognize the face: under the master's eyebrows are two black hollows, under his nose a sharp patch, his forehead and the tops of his cheeks shine. The master has narrowed his eyes against the sun, his forehead is creased. In the street there is no pane to diffuse with a curtain, no room to take shelter in; overhead there is only the sun. How do you save a portrait in full sun?

Context

In the lesson where you worked with difficult light, you tried how the noon sun breaks up a face, and what taking shelter in the shade of a building or a tree and standing at the edge of that shade gain you (Lesson 18.5). In the flash lessons, too, you met fill flash, used at a power below the ambient light to open the main light's shadows, and high-speed sync, which works above the sync speed (Lesson 19.5). And in the natural light lesson you just tried building a portrait with a window and a piece of cardboard (Lesson P.6).

Outside, these options are often not found together, and there is little time to think. A wedding, a family trip, a street interview can come at the hour when the light is worst. That is why most portrait photographers outside rely on a few questions asked in the same order every time. The order starts from the easiest and most natural solution and reaches for equipment only if needed.

Simple explanation

What is tried first?

The rescue sequence is the decision order in which solutions for a portrait in hard sun are tried from the easiest to the hardest: first move into shade, if there is no shade put the sun behind, and if that isn't enough either add fill to the face. Shade is often a few steps away: under a building, an awning, a tree. When the person is placed at the edge of the shade with their face turned to the bright street, the hard shadows of the overhead sun disappear and the face gets soft, directional light. Dappled light filtering through leaves, on the other hand, can leave scattered patches on the face; a fully covered part of the shade is chosen.

If there is no shade, or the person absolutely wants to stand in that place, the sun is put behind the person. For this either the person or the photographer changes position; the sun stays behind the person's head and a little to the side. The face is now inside its own shadow and is lit evenly; the edge of the hair and shoulders, on the other hand, appears with a bright line. The exposure is opened for the face; the background stays brighter. When the sun enters the lens directly, the flare spreading across the image lowers contrast; a lens hood, the photographer's hand, or hiding the sun behind the person's head reduces this.

Why are eyes and brims a problem?

Squinting is a face turned to the sun or a bright surface narrowing its lids and creasing its forehead to protect the eyes. Turning the person to the sun and saying "keep your eyes open" doesn't work; squinting isn't a matter of will, but a reflex. Putting the sun behind mostly solves the problem. If it doesn't, telling the person to close their eyes and open them when the photographer counts, and shooting a few frames the moment they open, works; the eyes stay comfortably open for a while.

Brim shadow is the shadow a hat, a cap, a headscarf or a fringe of hair casts on the face in overhead sun. This shadow often leaves the upper half of the face in darkness and the lower half in light, and draws a sharp line between them. Lifting the head slightly, moving the person into shade or adding fill to the shaded face softens this line. If the headscarf or hat is part of the person's identity, asking them to take it off isn't a solution; the solution is in the light.

How much fill should there be?

Fill amount is the power of the fill light added to the sun or the ambient light, kept low enough for the face to look natural. Fill flash opens the shadows the sun leaves; but if it is kept strong, the face takes on a flat, shiny look that smells of flash. Many photographers start fill flash with flash exposure compensation, often at one to two stops minus, and adjust by looking at the frame. A white reflector does the same job without a flash; when held in front of the face with the sun behind, it opens up the shaded face.

Shooting at a wide aperture in the sun raises one more problem. On a sunny day, at ISO 100, f/16 with a shutter speed of a hundredth of a second gives roughly the right exposure; opening up to f/2.8 needs a shutter speed five stops shorter, that is, about 1/3200 of a second. This is far above the sync speed of many flashes. In this case either high-speed sync is used, a filter that reduces light is mounted in front of the lens, or the aperture is stopped down.

The fill amount also reads differently on each skin. On dark skin the overhead sun easily darkens the eye sockets and the underside of the chin; fill brings detail back to these areas. On light skin, on the other hand, the sun can make the forehead, the nose and the tops of the cheeks shine; here, rather than fill, moving into shade or putting the sun behind helps. In the warm light as the sun nears the golden hour, a daylight-colored flash can make the face look cold; an orange correction gel mounted in front of the flash brings the two lights closer.

Visual evidence

In the frame shot under the sign, under the master's eyebrows are two dark hollows, a sharp triangle has fallen above his lip, his forehead shines. His eyes are narrowed, his forehead creased. On his dark skin the upper and lower halves of the face are split into two separate tones.

Your friend follows the rescue sequence. Right next to the sign there is an awning's shade; they place the master at the edge of the awning, his face turned to the bright street. The eye sockets open up, the eyes relax. But the master absolutely wants the sign to be visible; and the sign is in the sun.

Your friend changes position and puts the sun behind the master's head. The sign stays bright behind, the master's face is in even shade. They set the flash to one and a half stops minus and shoot a frame with high-speed sync. In the eyes there is the flash's small sparkle, there is detail in the eye sockets, the edge of his hair shines with the sun, and the face doesn't give away that a flash was used.

Common mistakes

Summary

A portrait under the sun is saved with a rescue sequence that goes from the easiest to the hardest: first you move into shade, if there is no shade the sun is put behind the person and the face is exposed accordingly, and if needed a low dose of fill flash or a reflector is added to the face. Putting the sun behind or having the eyes open on a count solves squinting; the brim's shadow is softened with light, and the fill amount is adjusted by looking at the face so that it opens the eye sockets on dark skin and doesn't make the forehead shine on light skin.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will shoot three portraits of a person at midday, in a sunny place.

1. Shoot the person directly under the sun, their face turned to the sun, and look at the eye sockets, the nose shadow and the narrowing of the eyes.
2. Find the edge of a shade a few steps away, place the person with their face turned to the bright area and shoot again.
3. Leave the person in the sun, put the sun behind their head, open the exposure for the face and shoot the last frame with a reflector or fill flash set to one to two stops minus.

Check yourself

• Did moving into shade or putting the sun behind solve the squinting?
• In the frame with fill, is it immediately obvious that a flash was used?
• Are the eye sockets and the forehead detailed on the person's skin?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. In hard overhead sun, what is the first step of the rescue sequence?

• A) Using fill flash at full power
• B) Moving into a shade a few steps away
• C) Telling the person to keep their eyes open
• D) Raising the ISO

2. When the sun is put behind the person, how is the exposure set?

• A) For the bright background
• B) For the sun
• C) For the face; the background stays brighter
• D) For the sky

3. Why is fill flash often used with minus compensation?

• A) Because at full power it flattens the face and gives away the flash light
• B) So that the flash's battery lasts longer
• C) To raise the sync speed
• D) To darken the background

4. How is the brim shadow falling on the face of a woman wearing a headscarf solved?

• A) Asking her to take off the headscarf
• B) Turning the frame into black and white
• C) Leaving the face out of the frame
• D) Lifting the head slightly, moving her into shade or adding fill to the face

Answers

1. B — Shade is the easiest and most natural solution; equipment comes in only if needed.
2. C — The face is in its own shadow; to expose it correctly, the background is allowed to stay bright.
3. A — A low dose opens the shadows while letting the face look natural.
4. D — The brim can be part of the person's identity; the solution isn't in removing it, but in the light.

Summary card

• Rescue sequence: shade → the sun behind → fill.
• In shade, turn the face to the bright area; avoid dappled light.
• For squinting: put the sun behind, or "close, open on three."
• Fill flash starts at one to two stops minus; for a wide aperture in the sun, HSS or a light-reducing filter.
• Eye sockets on dark skin, forehead shine on light skin: adjust by looking at the face.

Bridge to the next lesson

The wedding album's frames are done. A week later the master's daughter calls: she is applying for a job at a hospital and wants a profile photo. A plain, neat frame that inspires trust; but no bakery, no street, no setting that tells a story. Perhaps the whole ward team will be shot to the same standard too. How do you shoot a professional profile photo? The next lesson takes up a standard lighting setup and a plain background.