How To Photograph Harsh Midday Light Part 2
A little while ago I published a blog where I shared some tips on shooting in harsh light. That blog was very popular and in hindsight I realised I left a few suggestions out. If you haven’t read that blog I have linked it below so read it first then come back here.
How To Photograph Hard Midday Light Part 1
Finally before we get going a quick word on why you would even shoot in harsh light when everyone else won’t shut up about golden hour. The answer is simple… life. Most people are not full time photographers with zero responsibilities. Most people have jobs, families and other life things. When you’re travelling, you might only have the midday available. Lastly you can be like me and detest waking up early. Shooting during these harsh hours is the only option for many. Plus let’s face it, you don’t want to be 100% reliant on specific light.
Brightness
I don’t know where this came from but I remember always being told to underexpose your photos. For some weird reason there is this weird obsession with under exposing by 1 or more stops. However if you look at these images shot at midday with 0 exposure compensation, they appear rather dim and underexposed. So the first tip is to increase exposure however not in camera but in editing. If you do it in camera you are risking having some blown out areas. Leave the camera between 0 or maybe drop slightly to -0.3 if the light is really harsh. Then when you’re in the edit, increase the exposure or brightness. As you can see the end result looks much better than what has come straight out of camera.
Go Abstract
If you’re in a particularly high contrast environment, just expose for the highlights and make it into more of an abstract or fine art style photo. As we discussed in the previous video, don’t fight the contrast. Instead work with it. So go and find those tiny pockets of light especially in a city and see what you can come up with.
White Balance
In 99% of cases auto white balance does a great job and one would argue that the photo you see now is correctly white balanced. However I found that slightly warming up the image always leads to a more pleasant look compared to the correct white balance. In some cases also adding a touch of green can help. However be careful with the green as it is easy to overkill and make your image look all muddy. Do this adjustment in editing and not in camera.
Clarity & Sharpening
Harsh light can make everything appear, well, harsh. If your image has a lot of fine detail, then this will be even more obvious. So rather than sharpening the shit out of your photos for reasons no one will ever know, I suggest actually reducing your clarity and removing any sharpening. By softening the edge details and edge contrast, you will have an overall softer appearance thus removing some of that harshness that comes with midday light.
Shooting Wide Open
If you own an f1.2 lens and only shoot at f1.2 then this tip might make you wet your pants. If the scene is very harsh, then perhaps try to open up the lens and have the background or foreground slightly out of focus. This will smooth things out and in many cases help. Now don’t go crazy and shoot everything wide open, do it tastefully. The issue you will run into is brightness as you are shooting in midday after all. You have two options, an ND filter or electronic shutter. I personally use an ND filter as I switch between photo and video so it works, but for you electronic shutter might also do the trick.
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If you're planning to visit London or you’re a local and want to know some of the best locations for photography, this guide is for you.
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This guide is a result of years spent living and photographing London in all conditions and seasons. I have only recommended locations that have consistently delivered good photos that I have been happy with. This guide does not cover every spot, that would be impossible and a lifetimes work. This guide is there to put luck in your favour when visiting the capital.
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A zine is a self-published body of work and serves the following purposes:
It showcases all photos from a given trip or period of time. Think of this as a digital contact sheet. I only share about 50% of the final photos online. This has them all.
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This Fujifilm XT5 set-up guide is designed to save you time and get your camera set up and working just like I do. You will learn what the major features do and why I chose to set them in a certain way. I will show you how to assign the buttons and custom menus in order to have the most important features at your fingertips. Finally, I will walk you through how I expose and focus.
This guide is not a replacement for your user manual and does not cover 100% of the features. It covers the features that, in my experience, 90% of the people use 90% of the time. This is based on years of personal experience.
This guide is best suited for those who want to be up and running quickly with a tried-and-tested set-up.
This is a digital download and not a physical product. The download is around 25mb.
Please note that due to the nature of digital products, refunds are generally not accepted. However, if you experience any issues, feel free to contact me and I’ll review your situation individually. You are welcome to use this product for personal or commercial projects, but you may not copy, distribute, or resell the files in their original or modified form.
Finally, I want to say a massive thank you for supporting me. Buying this guide is the most direct way you can support my work, thus allowing me to make more videos, photos, and tutorials for you.
Thank you for your support!
This Fujifilm XT4 set-up guide is designed to save you time and get your camera set up and working just like I do. You will learn what the major features do and why I chose to set them in a certain way. I will show you how to assign the buttons and custom menus in order to have the most important features at your fingertips. Finally, I will walk you through how I expose and focus.
This guide is not a replacement for your user manual and does not cover 100% of the features. It covers the features that, in my experience, 90% of the people use 90% of the time. This is based on years of personal experience.
This guide is best suited for those who want to be up and running quickly with a tried-and-tested set-up.
This is a digital download and not a physical product. The download is around 21mb.
Please note that due to the nature of digital products, refunds are generally not accepted. However, if you experience any issues, feel free to contact me and I’ll review your situation individually. You are welcome to use this product for personal or commercial projects, but you may not copy, distribute, or resell the files in their original or modified form.
Finally, I want to say a massive thank you for supporting me. Buying this guide is the most direct way you can support my work, thus allowing me to make more videos, photos, and tutorials for you.
Thank you for your support!
This Fujifilm X100V set-up guide is designed to save you time and get your camera set up and working just like I do. You will learn what the major features do and why I chose to set them in a certain way. I will show you how to assign the buttons and custom menus in order to have the most important features at your fingertips. Finally, I will walk you through how I expose and focus.
This guide is not a replacement for your user manual and does not cover 100% of the features. It covers the features that, in my experience, 90% of the people use 90% of the time. This is based on years of personal experience.
This guide is best suited for those who want to be up and running quickly with a tried-and-tested set-up.
This is a digital download and not a physical product. The download is around 16mb.
Please note that due to the nature of digital products, refunds are generally not accepted. However, if you experience any issues, feel free to contact me and I’ll review your situation individually. You are welcome to use this product for personal or commercial projects, but you may not copy, distribute, or resell the files in their original or modified form.
Finally, I want to say a massive thank you for supporting me. Buying this guide is the most direct way you can support my work, thus allowing me to make more videos, photos, and tutorials for you.
Thank you for your support!