Why midday light is difficult
Around the middle of the day the sun is high, so it casts short, hard shadows and strong contrast. Faces get dark eye sockets and bright foreheads, and skies and highlights are easy to overexpose. Colors can look flatter or harsher than in the warm light of golden hour.
The usual advice is to avoid it. That is not always an option, especially when traveling or at events, so it helps to know what works.
Is 2 pm a good time to take photos?
In clear weather, the sun is usually still high in the early afternoon, so the light is hard. How high depends on your latitude and the season; in winter at higher latitudes the sun can sit lower even at midday. If the sky is covered by cloud, the picture changes completely, and soft light can make the early afternoon a good time. See overcast light.
Basic camera settings
- Exposure compensation: Many photographers dial in a small amount of negative compensation, somewhere between zero and about one stop under, to protect bright highlights. Shadows can often be lifted later, especially when shooting RAW.
- ISO: Use your base ISO. There is plenty of light.
- Aperture and shutter speed: Bright light gives you freedom. Use a wide aperture for background blur or a narrow one for sharpness across the frame, and let the shutter speed adjust. Very bright conditions can push shutter speeds beyond what your camera supports at wide apertures, in which case stop down or use a neutral density filter.
- Metering: Check the histogram. In contrasty scenes, matrix or evaluative metering is a sensible default, with spot metering if one area matters most.
Use open shade
Open shade is the shadow of a building or a large tree where your subject still faces open sky. The light there is softer and more even than direct sun. Place the subject at the edge of the shade, facing the bright open area, and expose for their face. Watch the background, which may look bright by comparison.
Add fill light or a reflector
When you must shoot in direct sun, a fill source lightens the shadows.
- A reflector bounces sun back into the shadow side of a face.
- Fill flash lets you balance a bright background with a properly exposed subject. Many cameras can only sync flash up to a certain shutter speed, so check the limit for your model.
- A diffuser held above the subject softens the direct sun.
Choose subjects that suit hard light
Some subjects benefit from strong overhead sun.
- Black and white emphasizes contrast and shape.
- Architecture and street scenes gain graphic shadows and bold geometry.
- Saturated colors such as painted walls can look vivid in strong light.
- Water and sky: A circular polarizer can deepen blue skies and reduce glare on water or foliage. Its effect depends on the angle to the sun.
Portrait tips
- Turn the subject so the sun is behind or beside them rather than in their eyes, then add fill.
- Avoid having them look straight up into the sun.
- A hat brim or shade can produce a flattering shadow, though it may darken the eyes.
Quick checklist
- Check the histogram and highlight warnings.
- Look for shade.
- Consider black and white.
- Use a polarizer or reflector if you have one.
- Return later for side light or golden hour if you can.