The Sun will come out...
Well..the sun FINALLY came out...
on a soccer game day no less...
Needless to say, I was thrilled...
There's only so much of blankets, ice cold temperature and whipping wind that one can take sitting on the sidelines cheering on the girls whilst visions of hot cocoa and warm slippers fill your mind!!
The sun was out in it's full SHINE...I mean, it was sunglasses AND baseball cap weather this past weekend!!!
And I loved it!
However, with all that sun, comes some photography issues that we've all had to deal with...whether it be shadowed faces or blown out backgrounds...though the sun is beautiful and can add a beautiful color to photos...if not used correctly, it can really mess up some images that you were really wanting to remember!
So...I have just a few things that I need to remember when I'm out there on sunshiney days...
Those that have come to Snapshops will understand even more what I'm trying to convey...but, if you have your camera manual handy, you'll be able to at least locate these little things anyway...
#1- keep a low ISO...in the "olden" days, ISO basically meant the speed of the film...remember when you used to buy 200 or 400 film? If you were shooting inside, you'd more often go for 400..outside, you'd go for 200...why? Because you need more light when you are inside...because the only natural light you are getting is through the windows (the higher the ISO, the more light was allowed in)...However, when you are outside, and that sun is SHINING...you've got LOTS of light workin' for you...therefore, by keeping that ISO low, you get more colors and saturation in your images instead of more light (since you already have enough)
#2- if you have a lens hood...use it...I have trouble with this one...mostly because it's bulky, but boy do I recognize a difference when I'm shooting in direct sunlight...your lens hood works the same way as does your baseball cap...it just shades those glowing rays from getting directly into the lens of your camera...allowing your camera to focus on your subject without that halo around everything.
#3- meter (or let your camera read the light) on your subject's face...The sun casts shadows...especially when your subject's back is to the sun...therefore, faces are often blackened out...you need to make sure (even if you shutterspeed is high to catch action) that it's not sooo high that you lose the light detail...
Above all...it's just practice, practice, practice...I normally shoot off 100 pictures in a hour game, and only use a few...each time, I'm practicing a different thing and trying to get the camera to do what I see in my mind's eye...
Here are just a couple caught from this past weekend :)
