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This is how to get gorgeous portraits despite harsh sunlight

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Shooting on location presents all kinds of lighting challenges. You’re at the mercy of the weather, and thus the light. And which light is “best” is a huge matter of personal preference. Some prefer the softness of a cloudy overcast day. Others like that harsh bright direct sunlight. Although the latter is not always that flattering.

There are things you can do to overcome this bright harsh sunlight, though. This video from photographer Manny Ortiz shows us his process, and how he works through these challenges. And it might surprise you to see that not all of them require the use of flash.

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How to use direct sunlight to your advantage and get some awesome shots

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Most of the photographers avoid direct sunlight when taking outdoor portraits, especially if the Sun is the only light source. However, you can turn the harsh sunlight into your advantage, and use it as a key light. Jay P. Morgan picked up his camera to show us how to do it, and ended up with some interesting shots using only the light coming from the Sun.

Jay and his crew shot in Bombay Beach, CA. The subject is an astronaut in a reflective suit, and I just love the location with the abandoned cars, trailers and houses. Even though the light is a bit flat, there are some tricks to make it more appealing and make the shots more interesting.

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The new Godox AD200 flash takes on the bright Texas sun and wins

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The Godox AD200 is the newest flash in the Godox line up. Around the world it’s sold under various brands. In the USA it’s the Adorama eVOLV 200. Here in the UK it’s the Pixapro Pika 200. Whatever it’s called, it’s been getting a lot of attention since it was initially announced. Last month we showed you Robert Hall’s quick hands on review.

Now, they’re out in the wild, shipping and being delivered as I type. One photographer who’s got his hands on one is our friend Francisco Hernandez. Francisco lives in South Texas, where the sun’s often brighter than average. As a consequence, he’s a big fan of high speed sync. So, he put the Adorama eVOLV 200 against the bright Texas sun to see just how well it performed.

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How to create the ultimate fake sun with a strobe (with lighting diagrams)

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Some shots need a sun. Sadly the sun is not at the optimal angle at all locations. Heck, if you are indoors (say at your studio) there may not be a sun at all. This is why there is a need to create a fake sun.

Creating a fake sun is easy, once you know the light qualities of the sun, and really, there are only two of those. It’s (1) small, and (2) orange. Actually, the sun is not really that small, it’s huge, but it is so far away that it small in relation to our field of view. The sun is actually not orange either, it’s white, But the light that gets here to earth becomes orange after it goes through the atmosphere. So while the Sun is neither small nor orange, it is small and orange for us. And this is the light we are going to reproduce.

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Fake Sunshine Glow – Warm Up Your Fall Photos With Strobe Sunlight

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I was just raking up the last of the fall leaves and though that I’d like to get some photos of the kids jumping in my big leaf pile.

The image I had in my head was one of those amazing fall days where that gorgeous warm glowing late day sunshine was back-lighting the leaves and highlighting the kids.

Problem was: by the time I was done raking the leaves, it was petty late in the day so most of my yard was in shade, and the ambient light that was available was coming from the wrong direction.

To get the photos I wanted, I decided to fake that late day warm sunshine glow with strobe sunlight. In this article, I will show you how to do it yourself (its actually pretty easy to get great results)!

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Overpowering the sun; Shooting outdoor flash portraits in harsh bright sunlight

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At some point or another, anybody who shoots portraits is going to need to shoot outdoors in bright sunlight. Even if you actively try to avoid it, it’s going to happen one day. It’s just inevitable. Maybe you’re not a portrait photographer, but you have a fancy camera and a flash. Friends or family may ask you to shoot their photo. Sunny days might be beautiful, but often not for portraits, unless you have a bit of flash to offer a helping hand.

In this video from AdoramaTV, Gavin Hoey walks us through overpowering the sun. We see flash units of various power from small speedlights to large battery operated strobes. Even just a speedlight in a small softbox makes a massive difference. Going over to a more powerful flash produces dramatically different results.

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5 Tips to get great light for outdoor portraits

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Shooting outside in bright sunlight scares many photographers. I always see people saying to not go out and shoot portraits when the sun’s high in the sky. To wait until golden hour and shoot in the sunset, or only go out on a cloudy day.

Well, I think that’s nonsense. There’s so much you can do with bright contrasty sunlight. In this video from Shutterbug Magazine, photographer James Patrick shows us five great tips for working with it.

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Two quick tips to overcome harsh daylight without lighting tools

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Creating portraits outdoors in harsh sunlight is a pain. It’s why people tell you to not go out and do it during a bright sunny day, and to wait until golden hour. Personally, I love it, although I’m often doing it with flash or reflectors but it can be done without those, too.

In his latest Two Minute Tips video, photographer David Bergman walks us through the process of dealing with the harsh sunlight on location and beating it into submission to get some great portraits.

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Creating A Midday Sun In The Studio – A Lighting Tutorial

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As we know, shooting in harsh sunlight at midday is a portrait photographers nightmare! But, it can produce a very striking and edgy look thats fantastic. However this particular author lives and works in Northern Ireland – now, most will agree, this is a beautifully scenic part of the world unfortunately though we are not blessed with a lot of sunlight. In fact this year its hard to remember a day when its wasn’t raining!

Hence my project to create a wonderfully hard Mediterranean sunlight effect in the studio! In fact this is a fairly easy task and using the correct modifier can produce excellent results. For my first test I wanted to create a textured wall effect rather than use a seamless paper roll. I purchased a 4′ X 8′ sheet of plasterboard (Drywall) and produced a textured effect by liberally applying Spackling Paste to the board.

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