Shooting in Harsh Light

Photographers have a special relationship with natural lighting. At times it’s gentle and soft, and other times it’s screaming with intensity. I was just in Wyoming for a few projects, and I had many shoots take place in harsh lighting. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have known how to make the most of this and would have tried to squeeze everything into the small window of golden hour every morning and evening. Yet I’ve become a student of harsh lighting this past year, because I moved to sunny California, where it’s basically blue skies and intense sunlight every single day.

Let me walk you through all of the things I’ve learned about shooting in harsh lighting, and show you a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up this past year.

Shot using the tips below at 2:50pm on a sunny day.

Tip #1: Lower that shutter speed!

One thing that happens when you shoot golden hour is that you can shoot with a nice low f-stop with a relatively normal shutter speed. But in really bright light, it’s hard to shoot anything normal and keep an open aperture. I like to shoot between f/1.2 and f/3.5 usually, unless I’m shooting a flatlay or big detailed landscape (another blog on this coming soon).

So let’s say I’m shooting f/3.5 with ISO 100 on a bright afternoon. I’m going to have to have the shutter at 1/4000 or something ridiculous like that to get a normal exposure. What I’ve experienced with a high shutter is that you end up over-saturating the sky and increasing contrast overall. You also may get more vignetting, depending on your body and lens.

Here is a perfect example. I shot this picture of my son f/2.8 at 1/2500 to illustrate this point.

f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/2500 (RAW)

Do you see how saturated the sky is? How it’s vignetting? Now let’s contrast this with a slower shutter in the same lighting. Below is 1/400.

f/3.5, ISO 100, 1/400 (RAW)

If you’re shooting at ISO 100 and a low aperture, how do you go about getting a slower shutter? Put a VND filter on your lens for harsh lighting and lower that shutter speed. I personally use Polar Pro filters. I use the PM 2-5 & 6-9 stop, depending on the lighting. I don’t love using filters, but I love a better starting point when I go to edit photos. Using these filters lets me have consistency between soft and harsh lighting because the colors and contrast are a bit more uniform. I have the 82mm size and I use step-up rings for all of my lenses. Buy once and use step-up… way cheaper than buying one for every sized lens.

Same photo above, edited

Tip #2: ETTR (Expose to the Right)

Exposure technique can be a source of division and drama, and if you’re passionate about how you expose, you do what works for you. There are basically three ways to expose: the meter, the histogram, and zebras. I expose via the histogram, and I almost always ETTR. I started doing this last winter in snowy shoots, because the prior winter I shot snowy conditions how I would any other conditions and I hated all of my photos. This past winter and shooting ETTR was beautiful and exactly what I wanted. Now I treat mid-day and harsh lighting the same as I would snow.

11:38am, ETTR

By exposing to the right, I push the sky and highlights a bit but save the shadows. This decreases contrast, which is one of the biggest offenders in harsh lighting. When I evaluate a scene, I will push exposure until the histogram hits the wall, and then back it off a bit. The meter usually lands around +1 to +2, and I don’t really have issues with blowing out my photos thanks to the awesome dynamic range of my camera.

f/3.2, ISO 100, 1/250 (RAW)

As you look at the above photo, you’ll see clarity in the shadows but pushed a bit in the highlights. This shot was taken mid-day, yet it’s not overly harsh. When I go to edit it, I find that it receives my usual treatment very well.

Same image, edited

Exposing to the right helps decrease contrast and gets those shadows a little softer in harsh lighting. Huge difference than exposing to 0 or even under-exposing (like so many modern photographers do).

Tip #3: Avoid Small Shadows

Another offender in harsh lighting are patches of mixed light. You have dark shadows and intense light mixed in the same photo, and that just doesn’t please the eye. When out taking pictures in an area where there are small shadows (like on a trail), I try to find a spot that has a lot of light or a lot of shadows. Never both.

f/3.2, ISO 100, 1/400 (RAW)

This trail had several small shadow areas on it, but we specifically snapped this shot at this spot because the light opened up a bit. Yes, there are still small shadows, but not a ton of them. When I went to edit this photo, it really became special.

This photo was taken a bit before lunch, so it’s not the worst part of the day, but it’s still pretty harsh lighting. Yet by avoiding the smaller shadows (and using the other two tips above), I was able to open it up and give it a more pleasing treatment that’s consistent with the rest of my photos.

Similarly, this photo below was shot in the middle of the afternoon on a trail. Tons of small shadows around. I found a small spot with no shadows directly on my daughter, and exposed this in a way that made her clear but blew the sky out. By combining these tips, I got a photo I loved in the middle of the day.

Where I used to be intimidated and unhappy anytime I shot in harsh lighting, today I’m not really afraid of it. In fact, I’m happy to take my camera out almost anytime. This is probably due to some maturity as a creative, but I also feel empowered to capture my vision even when the lighting isn’t the best.

Next up, I’ll be sharing how I edit photos with harsh lighting. Stay tuned.