Summer (now), outdoor with no shelter from the sun

[rayonline_nz]

It is summer now here in the southern hemisphere. Had our first picnic outdoors. Got me thinking even thou I didn't have my camera, the others used their own ones.

Summer, the sun is out, no shelter, no trees, no walkway, the land is flat. What would you do? Would a 600W monolight help at all even if someone could muster? I never had a reflector but would they work with a group of 4 or 6 adults half body?


Cheers.

 

[MattKing]

White sheet on the ground or even a nearby picnic table can help.
If you work with leaf shutters, you might be surprised how relatively easy it is to use moderately powered flashes as fill for backlit portraits.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

It is summer now here in the southern hemisphere.

OK. We know New Zealand is ahead of us in time by 2 hours or so, but summer already? Hmmm.
Really, it is still Spring in the southern hemisphere, including New Zealand!
And if you need beautiful light, skip the blinding temperate white light of daytime and shoot in the early morning of evening.

 

[rayonline_nz]

OK, so it is spring still haha. Yes but you know - people don't go to the beach or the picnic early morning or late evening ;-) Don't wedding photography do it in mid afternoon cos that's what the clients want.

They are still eating their breakfast and their dinners.

 

[tedr1]

It's a problem, overhead light is often unflattering, on-camera flash is also often unflattering, I would leave my camera at home!

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Well, I'm at the beach now prepping brekky! Photography was done at 5.45am ensnaring the first faint flushes of fuscia fleeing across the sky harking the birth of another beautiful day. After brekky, I will swim more!

If people must venture out in the sun for portraiture, portable/flexible foil reflectors in gold, silver or a mix of these in the set up to mimic warmer light, ND filters and maybe even negative exposure compensation. The daylight we are enjoying now is far too harsh to be used effectively in the open (don't even think about trying it on a 40 degree day on the sand!), but that seemingly doesn't stop the millions of tourists clicking away with their digimons and getting under the locals' feet! Haven't seen any professionals do this in stark daylight for many years, just real estate agents mostly, but even they are partial to photographing properties in the morning and evening with the internal and external light on for effect, and it works well.

For everybody else, the advice is put your camera down and go for a swim. Come back for photography in the evening.

 

[jim10219]

OK, so it is spring still haha. Yes but you know - people don't go to the beach or the picnic early morning or late evening ;-) Don't wedding photography do it in mid afternoon cos that's what the clients want.

They are still eating their breakfast and their dinners.

It's your job as a professional to educate your clients. Let them know that if they want good photos outdoors, they're going to need to be done early in the morning, or late in the evening. If they care more about eating and sleeping than good photos, then do the photos in the afternoon. Just let them know that the light will be unflattering, and then do your best to get the best photos you can with what you have available.

My girlfriend does lots of portraits and wedding photos and always tells them this ahead of time. Some care enough to reschedule stuff and show up early or late in the day. Some don't, and seem to just want it done so they can say they did it, without really caring about the results. Some think they care, but then show up 2 hours late and don't realize that the sun waits for no one, and get upset that you have to reschedule the shoot (at additional cost) or give them unflattering photos (at additional cost because they're gonna pay you for your time whether it's spent waiting in a car or focusing a camera).

Ultimately, wedding and portrait photography is not for me. I'm not patient enough with people. But if it's your thing, then understand that good communication skills are more important than good photography skills to getting a successful photo shoot. You can meter the light like a master and frame the photo like a boss, but if you can't convince the model to show up on time and give a natural looking pose, you're not going to get good portrait photos.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Use fill-in flash or release clouds of noxious gases to cause local light scattering clouds.

 

[rayonline_nz]

It's your job as a professional to educate your clients.

I am not a professional but yeah ... it's when they prefer to be out. They enjoy the sunshine and it's warm. And it's not just that - I want here and not over there under those trees, i want to have this tree or this flower over here. So I just do as I am told ....