How to Take Portraits in the Sun: Finding Shade

A couple weekends ago, Mindy and I traveled down south for a wedding. I thought I would post a couple pictures of my family I had my cousin take to illustrate two more quick ways to take portraits in the sun.

Method 1: If the sun isn't too bright, just put it behind your subject and

shoot away.

In this first image, the sun must be slightly blocked by clouds because our faces are still well exposed. A side benefit of this technique is the "rim lighting" the sun is providing. Notice the bright light around the edges of my family, which helps separate us from the background and adds interest.

Method 2: Move to shade.

Notice how in this second picture the subject's faces are slightly brighter than in the first picture? Also, when you're shooting in full shade, you can be reasonably certain that you will obtain an even exposure all around.

I personally use both of these techniques all the time in my professional shooting, and there's no reason we can't use them with our point and shoot cameras too. I hope these tutorials have been helpful so far! Let me know in the comments if there is anything else you would like to know about.