Digital Home Thoughts: Bright Ideas For Shooting In Midday Sun

"As a previous post on DPS by Jim M. Goldstein pointed out, photography is all about light. Most photographers know the best times for photographing are just after sunrise and before sunset. The light is more pleasing and generally easier to work with and those times of day have been given the name Golden Hour. While they are the best times of day to be out shooting, what about the rest of the day, especially the times right around high noon? During those hours the light from the sun is more direct and harsh, bleeding out colors and leaving images flat or blown out. What is there to be done about this less than perfect light around midday? First, it’s a great time to scout locations for sunset or sunrise photos. Second, it’s also a great time to take a siesta. But if you’re short on time in your location and want to keep shooting, the following tips may help you capture better images in the middle of the day."

Sometimes I cannot believe that I don't come across these articles before I do. I just took some outdoor shots a little while ago and had tons of trouble with lens flares and sunlight bouncing off of shiny objects to create weird artifacts in photos. It is not that I don't know the things that the article recommends, just that I like taking photos on whatever manual I had it set to last and then adjust from there. Articles like these remind me to think ahead of time about what settings will make for the best photographs.