Priceless Impressions: Shooting in full sun....

While learning about photography, I tried to research all the "right" and "proper technique". All the rules. All the "always do this" aspects of photography. I have talked about this before in other posts...but wanted to talk about it some more. Sticking with all the "rules" was prohibiting me from always capturing the moments. If I didn't have perfect lighting, I didn't shoot. I found myself afraid to shoot in full sun. I thought that I had to have perfect lighting on the entire face without harsh shadows. This is difficult when you don't have fill flash. Lately...I have realized that I actually really like the effect the sun has on faces. I have been experimenting more with the sun and not worrying about always having even light across the face. I think it makes pictures have an interesting quality that I really like.

Getting proper exposure in full sun is difficult if you do not shoot in manual mode. In auto mode your camera will meter to the brightest object. That is why people will always look dark. When you shoot in Manual mode, you can trick the camera and get the skin tones properly exposed.