Tips for Shooting into the Sun!

I was speaking to another wedding photographer the other day, and we were both crushing over golden hour. We’re well versed on how it can transform an image entirely, but less is spoken about how friggin’ amazing it feels to shoot it. We both agreed it’s an adrenaline pumping experience, so I had to share its power with you and how you can start taking your own SUN-BURSTING imagery…

So why is golden hour the bomb?

Personally, I love the feeling of being on the clock - it brings another layer of excitement to the proceedings. The sun is fading and there’s a pinnacle moment when it gives you everything. It’s low position in the sky produces a soft, diffused light which flatters skin tones and hits them with a golden hue (think of bronzer and an incredible brush sweeping across ones face!) 

So how do you get it?

• Shoot in manual mode to harness exposure to its max.
• Place your subjects in front of the sun to enhance rim lighting.
• Shoot wide open (low f/stop) to gain that shallow depth of field. You want as much light as possible to travel into your camera, which will focus on the smallest details depicted by you, and blur that background out. The perfect environment for peak condition bokeh!
• Always spot meter and expose for the shadows on the skin (you might want to underexpose to balance those highlights). With this mode, it will focus wherever your central focal point is, picking up on the smallest area. Without it, the shot may end up darker than you’d like, or perhaps a silhouette.
• Keep moving and take lots of shots. The sun’s position and its effects change rapidly during golden hour, so play with where it sits in your frame until you’re happy. If the sun is too overpowering, partially hide it behind a tree or building.
• If you're after an overall haze, move the sun to the outer edges of the frame or just outside of it. 

You may notice lens flares, which occurs when bright light hits your back sensor and scatters. In most cases, they add a cinematic feel to imagery, but sometimes they miss the mark. If you'd like to reduce them, use a lens hood or your hand to shield the light. The more you practice, the more you'll know when to move slightly to make the kind of creative adjustments you'd like. 

Lastly, if you use a higher f-stop value to deepen the depth of field, you will create a sunburst effect just like this...

Let me know how you get on shooting your very own golden hours, what you exposed for and the different effects you got. Share all your work on The Full House Club ladies. 

Big love, Laura x