Problems with direct sunlight and focus

[rawphotography]

YesterdayYesterday I was doing a freebie photoshoot for two brothers and their father, at a scenic location in Plymouth. I got a key from the council to take down domw barriers sso that we could shoot with the seafront in the background and the sun out of shot, unfortunately the locks were rusted and we had to improvise, shooting with the sun just in the frame.

I was using a kit lens, granted, but in these conditions my autofocus/metering really struggled. The quality of the kit lens isn't great but when I got home I did a few test shots on auto and it managed to achieve a half decent focus lock. I had similr problem with a 28-135mm lens (both are canon lenses).

Can anyone adise on what I might be doing wrong? I normally get good results but don't shoot in harsh light and in this case I had little choice. I tried to spot meter as well, but the results were horrible. So exposure and focus were both horribly off.

[silversnapper1]

If you were shooting against the sun I suspect that you needed a bit of fill in flash.

[GeoffWessex]

Mother's Remedies..... Fill-in flash, Reflector, keep the sun out of shot (even if you've got to go back an hour later or another day).

[KeithT]

Autofocus failure can occur if there are low contrast areas such as a solid blue sky or stretch of sandy beach for instance. Low light subjects would be difficult to auto focus as would backlit and reflective subjects so fill-in will help. It isn't easy to fix focus on repetitive patterns either. At least one of these may well have caused you to lose focus.

Shooting in the midday sun is generally asking for tech problems. Harsh light from the overhead sun can leave images looking flat and lifeless. Shots are best taken in the early morning light or late afternoon if there is plenty of sunshine about, but can also be taken successfully from about 2pm onward. Your manual should tell you all about this by the way, so don't forget to read it often.

[amk1977]

As mentioned above, if you are shooting against a bright light source behind your subject, like the sun or powerful studio lights, then chances are that your camera will meter for that light source and you'll end up with a silhouetted subject. Set the meter for their face and you'll end up with severely over exposed backdrops.

The only ways to avoid this are with fill in flash, so that the light hitting your subjects face will be more in line with the light of your back lit scene and you'll achieve correct exposure throughout the frame with the corresponding shutter speed/aperture/ISO combo.

As Geoff mentions, reflectors are another great (and in many ways better option), as you are bouncing back the ambient light towards your subject. Mixing natural and artificial light can sometimes have noticeable unnatural looking effects. Orange sunset with a bluish/white light source hitting someones face for example. Coloured gels placed over the flash unit can eliminate this of course.

The problem with reflectors though is that unless you have an assistant or a sturdy stand/arm to hold the reflector for you, it can sometimes be a bit impractical to use one, depending on the size. Add to that fact, that if shooting outdoors in a windy location like the seafront, you may very well watch your reflector and stand disappear along the beach, unless weighed down well.

If shooting in midday sun as Keith mentions, you will experience hard light. Subjects are generally left squinting in the direct sunshine and have shadows directly under their eyes, which doesn't make for pleasing portraits generally speaking. The use of a large diffuser positioned above the subject can solve this problem. Again, without an assistant or stand/holder, this isn't really going to be a viable option. Moving to a shaded area and again, perhaps using some fill flash, with a diffuser on the flashgun, will give nice, soft, flattering light, with little to no specular highlights.

[OldBoy]

I've got a problem with sunlight - we aren't getting any due to clouds!