Sunny Days are For Raccoons

It never fails. When I go to a beautiful and scenic area on a beautiful bright sunny afternoon, I see people take photos of their loved ones. After all, we want to mark the moment, right? But, more often than not, the photos look horrendous with harsh shadowing such as “raccoon eyes.”

So, what do we do to help out the situation? Remember the old Kodak guidebooks that came along with your new Kodak camera purchase? They would say that on sunny days you should face your subject towards the sun with the sun directly behind you? That would get rid of harsh shadows for sure, right? Well, perhaps. But you get one of two things happening that are not desirable. Either (A) the subject is squinting or eyes watering because of the effects of the bright sun or (B) subjects with unflattering head shapes end up accentuated because now their face appears even more round and flat than before.

So, throw that old Kodak guideline out the door and consider trying these tactics instead if you must shoot during harsh lighting conditions outdoors.

Use your flash, yes, I said flash. Flash isn’t just for night shots and is often one of the most misunderstood tools of a camera.

Position your subject with the sun hitting one side of the face and ensure your flash is on so that it subtly fills in some of the harsh shadowing on the other side of the face. This creates a more dynamic photo because the shading helps provide structure to the face but it isn’t overly dark to where the contrast is too great.

You can also invest in a small collapsible 5-in-1 reflector or even use something white (such as a white jacket) to bounce light from the sun towards the subject’s unlit areas to fill in some of the shadows. The bounced light effect is less harsh and easier to control than many flashes and is used often by professional photographers both indoors and outdoors.

Small reflectors cost in the neighborhood of $25 and often have 5 functions in one reflector: soft gold side for warmer color tones; silver side though this is more for contrast photos that are often desired in black/white photography; white side that produces a neutral-colored light; and a translucent fabric that helps diffuse light similar to tight netting that you can create a less-contrast shadow.

So, if you must shoot in the harsh sun, you’ll drastically improve your subject’s outcome with one of these techniques. Wait for a bright sunny day and give it a try!

To see this and more of my portraiture photos, please visit Memories by Duskin.

Slowing Time

Pell Bridge, Newport, RI

If only we can slow down time, we’d live a thousand years! Well, we might not be able to (outside of medical advances) but we can slow down time in the camera.

Whether you want to soften a waterfall instead of freezing the action or see streaks of car lights, it’s all about shutter speed. If your camera has “S” or Shutter Priority, this is where you can control how long the shutter remains open.

The longer it stays open, the more light it allows into the camera. When the light is moving, then you get what are called light trails. In the image provided, I waited until the sun set so that it was dark enough to allow more light into my camera without blowing it out.

Think of your shutter speed like a pail of water. If you let too much water in it, what happens? It spills out. What if you do not let enough water in the bucket? It doesn’t quiet fill up, does it? The same goes for the camera. Too much or too little of something is not a good thing.

An important key to note with slow shutter photography is to have the camera stable. Since the shutter is slow, the camera will shake if not steady. If you have a tripod, use it. If not, ensure it sits on a table, beanbag or some other support where it will not shake. Even with tripods, the camera can shake if it is windy. To help this, stabilize the tripod with some weight.

For the image I shot, I used “Shutter Priority” and set the f/stop as closed as possible. On this particular lens, it was f/22 (often the smallest aperture for manual lenses). With the light metering off the clouds, it gave me a shutter reading of 2 seconds. I know that 2 seconds is not enough time to get car lights streaking. I needed at least 10 or more seconds.

To resolve the issue, I needed to darken my lens to let in even less light over a longer period of time. I put on my dark polarizing filter which dropped it 2 stops and I decreased the compensation by 5 stops. This allowed me to shoot with a shutter speed of 15 seconds thus rendering a nice blur from both headlights and tail lights of cars going over the bridge. Of course, I waited until the scene presented itself properly.

The wind was very strong so to stead my tripod, I hung my backpack from the center column and placed my vehicle in front of the tripod which helped resist enough of the wind’s effect to help stop the vibration on this very windy and cold January day.

To see this and more of my photos, please visit Images by Duskin.