Tips Quick tips for still shooting in bright sunlight?

I have to photograph some feature patios for our brochure, and I want a quick steer on base camera settings for doing so - I can tweak and fiddle as I go, but any help would be great.

It will be outside in bright sunlight.

Thanks guys.

 

Id imagine a circular polarizer and a low aperture setting. But I dunno. I don't even own a camera.

 

What kind of shots do you want? Arty with a blurry background? Everything in focus?

 

I'd use a CPL, ND Filter, high shutter speed and wide open aperture.

The ND filter, depending on what lighting you have available, will be able to reduce the exposure a few stops without sacrificing too much in the way of image quality. YMMV if you have an el-cheapo ND filter. (Like sunglasses for your camera) and be aware of flaring and internal reflections.

The Shutter speed is another method I use to control exposure - something around 1/800 with a 2 stop ND filter keeps me at a decent exposure in mid-noon sun light.

With some ND filters you can stack to get a few more stops (2 + 4 = 6 stops).

I tend to leave my aperture at f1.8/f2.8, sometimes bumping to f4.0 if the light is really harsh - I want the subject to remain the primary focus.

ND = Neutral Density
CPL = Circular Polariser

 

General rule in sunlight: ISO 200 (good cameras will manage 100), aperture nice 'n tight, say f/8 - f/11, and whatever shutter speed you need for a good exposure with the other two settings as they are, probably in the region of 1/500. Depending what camera you have you could shoot in aperture priority mode which lets you set the aperture and all other settings will be handled automatically.

I would say that anything below f/5.6 is far too big for an outdoor shot; I generally don't even go below f/8 unless I specifically want shallow depth of field.

 

Some difference of opinion on aperture settings - thanks guys, I'll have a play around tomorrow.

 

I tend to stick to f1.8-f4.0, but I generally do wildlife and sports where I need the faster shutter and balance exposure with the aperture.

It's all subjective though, go with whatever gives you the result you are looking for, after all it's YOUR picture.

 

If you want the patio to be in focus from front to back use a DOF calculator to work out your required aperture

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

 

Last time I checked, patios don't tend to move very fast, especially in direct sunlight

 

Just you watch the buggers when the sun goes down though - It's like herding cats!

 

Hold up kids, y'all missed one.

If you want colours to pop, you place the Sun at your back. Even if you don't care about colours always place the Sun at your back during daylight. If you don't, the ghost of George Eastman will rise up and kick you right in the plums.

Also, you want to get fresh with a patio in broad daylight, you use the Sunny /16 rule. Patios, and by strange coincidence, hos' love the Sunny /16 rule. Hit up aperture priority and dial in:

f/16 - It's so damn bright, my beautiful eyes!
f/11 - Sunny
f/8 - Overcast
f/4 - Shade or a romantic sunset (bring wine, it's in the camera manual)

 

The only problem with placing the sun at your back is that... you can't place the sun; you can only place yourself (and your shot) relative to the sun. But the advice is sound - shoot away from the sun if possible, and if you have a lens hood use it as it may help reduce glare.

Patios and Hos... is that the name of the company you're doing the work for?

 

You could use a reflector and change your perspective by moving around the subjects. You could either move to the other side, or shoot from above or get down low and shoot up.