Photography in bright day light

[vpsthakur]

Hi,

I am learning photography. Studying various stuff and also practising using my D3100.

I need expert advice as to how we should take shots in bright day light. I find quite a lot interesting subjects to capture but when I take a shot they look very harsh with ugly shadows and highlights.

For the same I did some search on web and came to know I should be using poloried filters. I also came cross something called NDG filters. Are these two filters different? If different then which one should I buy? How do I decide ?

It will be also good to see some pics taken by experts here in bright day light.. Landscapes, street., outdoors etc.

Cheers,

Vinay

 

[Rashkae]

It's called polarized filters and gnd or nd. Each has it's own purpose, there is no "in bright daylight use this" filter.

We have stickies posted about newbie guides to filters. Read them.

Also, there is a good reason most experienced photographers *avoid* shooting around noon. Photography is capturing light, and if your light is harsh and unpleasant, it will appear that way in your images. Filters won't help much. You need to come back at a time that the light is better.

 

[giantcanopy]

Hi,

I am learning photography. Studying various stuff and also practising using my D3100.

I need expert advice as to how we should take shots in bright day light. I find quite a lot interesting subjects to capture but when I take a shot they look very harsh with ugly shadows and highlights.

For the same I did some search on web and came to know I should be using poloried filters. I also came cross something called NDG filters. Are these two filters different? If different then which one should I buy? How do I decide ?

It will be also good to see some pics taken by experts here in bright day light.. Landscapes, street., outdoors etc.

Cheers,

Vinay

Hi Vinay do read up on roles of GND, ND, and polarisers. They are the basic filters for landscape photography and I always sure to bring them for travel holidays ( esp ND n GND ).

There are various subsections in photo gallery section of the forum for you to browse photo postings of users.

As earlier mentioned, photography is about good lights. Dusk dawn are great opportunites for landscape works.

Ryan

 

[catchlights]

Filters can only change the exposure but not the lightings.

these are totally two different things.

photography is all about lights and shadows, you need learn to see lights and shadow,
it is not built into your camera and there is not gadget able to help.

all you can do is to study the good photos taken by others,
find out what make it works

****READ CAREFULLY****
how does the lighting and shadow work here?
the quality of lighting?
the quantity of lighting?


and apply these to your photos.

 

[Octarine]

Have a look at the gallery section and you will find tons of pictures taken in bright daylight, but mostly not taken in harsh light around noon. Those still taken at this time are obvious and will get the respective comments.
But: that does not mean it is impossible to take pictures at this time of the day. As what catchlights mentioned: observe the light and see what is good for your subject.

 

[vpsthakur]

Thanks guys!!!! I need to study more! experiment more. Will observe work in gallery. May be will post some snaps when I achieve what I aim to for your feedback

Cheers

 

[albertsy2]

Generally, in bright light, you probably need to use your flash (fill-in).
In low light, you probably don't need to use your flash.

 

[surrephoto]

There is no straight-forward answer, but i have these solution;

1. Back-lit photo. It's ok to over-expose the background so long it looks completely wash out. Abit of fill-flash which makes the background look like abit of over-exposure and some yucky burnt colours is even worse. It may look cheesy but using a diffusion effect in post can help to make the shot look natural. Try to shoot the widest aperture possible to soften the subject and background gradation. This means at least an f2.8 for 50mm.
2. Fill-flash photo. Make sure you are shooting at or under your flash sync shutter speed to maximize flash output. Metering for the background is best. You're going to need alot of batteries and alot of light.
3. Faux HDR. Make sure your entire image is generally under-exposed such that the background or harsh shadows of noon sun are within the reasonable boundaries of the histogram. Then shoot RAW and pull the file and massage the highlights in post. Works best with full-frame cameras or cameras with good noise performance and good dynamic range. Can be natural if done well.
4. Black & White. Generally B&W hides alot of ugliness of harshly lit photos. Make sure you select a good b&w color filtering in post, I generally use green, orange or red (skin tone priority).

Remember. Crappy fill-flash is the WORST of the lot.

 

[gundamseed84]

yup no straightforward answer. depends on what you shoot. If is street i usually avoid flash as i want to be as stealth as possible. Similarly for animals. For these cases my priority is to get exposure for subject right so I would end up wit background over exposed or under exposed.

however there are times when such guidelines are not followed esp when i want to take some 'creative shots' where i want the subject to be partly in shadows or when the background tells a story and i don't want too dark or too bright background.

If is say take photos of friends or still objects i will use a flash to add a punch and make it not under exposed. Similarly to how ppl take portrait shots with bright background.

so it really depends on what u want to shoot and i say experience and good photo references provide better answer than mere text.

 

[vpsthakur]

Thanks very much... I will experiment what you suggested.

 

[JasonB]

Shoot in the shade then. Or during late afternoon or early morning.

Concentrate on lunch during lunch hour.

 

[nitewalk]

Shoot in the shade then. Or during late afternoon or early morning.

Concentrate on lunch during lunch hour.

Shot at 1159 am. Concentrated much better on lunch after shooting this.

... edited out nonconstructive comments by daredevil123...:

This is a manually blended image of (i think) two exposures. This is to show it is possible to shoot at midday but even so, requires multiple exposures or gnd used. But with bad lighting condition, not much can be done.

 

[catchlights]

different subjects need different approach,
we don't know know what subjects TS referring to specifically,
some best shoot in shade, or cloudy day
some need to use flash or fill flash
some best shooting in backlighting
some works better in frontal lighting
some works well in side lighting.
some only look good in mood lighting.

unless TS show us some photos he had taken,
asking us how to deal with the kind of situation,

we won't able to provide him a solution that can fix all problems.


so best not to assume anything.

 

[catchlights]

in the name of helping newbies.

please be precise and provide useful information which able to help them.


most importantly, keep cool and be civil.

 

[Tiredofallthese]

If i am a newbies, i will thought that it is straight out from cam and will believe that i could do that too. Better clarify if you want newbies to learn something here. Cheers bro and sis here

 

[catchlights]

please take a step backward each of you,
you can get your point clear without pointing fingers at each other,
and don't get too personal on the discussion.
it won't help anyone here but only sow unhappiness among ourself,
and also scare away newbies.

I won't lock up this thread, I want to see peace and reconciliation,
if you can't, please keep cool and take a break from posting.

 

[sjackal]

Ok relax everyone.

Seems like not so good to shoot in the hot sun after all, everyone heated up and angry.

 

[Tiredofallthese]

Ok relax everyone.

Seems like not so good to shoot in the hot sun after all, everyone heated up and angry.

Its ok to shoot against hot sun but dont show details....shot it as SHAPE. Nice too and natural.

 

[wm910]

Sigh I saw the thread stating photography in bright daylight which kinda interest me but as I read on all I see are ppl squabbling.

 

[nitewalk]

Its ok to shoot against hot sun but dont show details....shot it as SHAPE. Nice too and natural.

Yes and people do miss out details :bsmilie: