6 tips for better summer photography
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Avoid overexposure
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Summer portraits
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Stay dry
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Use the color
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Shoot less in mid- day
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Use a polarizing filter
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Summer is just around the corner. It’s probably the favorite season for most people. Everybody seems to be happier and things generally look better in summer. It can be a great season for photography as well, especially since it’s the time most vacations take place. Here are 6 tips to help you capture great photos this summer.
Burning your photos is very easy in midsummer days. The sun is at its strongest and you can’t always see what you’re doing on your camera’s LCD screen. Also, if you’re regularly using semi-automatic shooting modes (Aperture or Shutter priority), you should watch out for underexposure. Some cameras will under expose if they measure too much light, so be careful with that as well.
Nobody likes photos of themselves squinting, so make sure to turn your subject away from the bright sun. It’s better to shoot against it, preferably at dusk or dawn. Before you say it’s a mistake to shoot with the sun behind the model, keep in mind that your interest is to have the face properly exposed, not the background. Besides, the sunshine halo can create interesting effects.
Actually, keep your camera dry. Be especially careful around swimming pools where kids might jump and splash everything, and on the beach. Sea sprays can do a lot of damage to a camera if not dried immediately. The salt can corrode the contacts and you might be surprised to find that you will no longer have auto focus or who knows what other features.
Summer is a very colorful season and that’s something that can help you a lot. Look for the bright colors to bring out the “heat” and use the cooler ones for a gentler atmosphere. Watch out for white balance and be sure to shoot RAW, just in case you get the color temperature wrong or you feel like changing it later.
One of the reasons is that it’s the hottest time of the day. You are likely to feel uncomfortable and less creative when you’re melting away. Second, the light is at its brightest and the shadows are the strongest. I’m not saying you can’t take amazing pictures in this kind of light; it’s just not right for most subjects, nor is it good without the help of at least one fill flash.
Summer skies can look incredible on certain days, but you can make them look better by adding some contrast and saturation with a circular polarizer. Besides modifying the contrast, this filter will also reduce exposure by about three stops, so you would be better off having one in broad daylight.
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