How to still get GREAT PHOTOS in the bright mid-day sun
How to still get GREAT PHOTOS in the bright mid-day sun
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My name is Simon d’Entremont and I’m a professional wildlife and nature photographer from Eastern Canada. In this video I’ll show you how to get great photographs even in the bright mid-day sun.
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Music in intro: “Nicer”, by Houses on the Hill. Find that, and other sound effects at Epidemic Sounds
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What’s your favorite tip for shooting in bright sunlight? Let us know?
Impressive
My best pictures have been late evening, but next to that, is to go out on bright sunny days with light cloud cover to diffuse the light. This can provide very nice images.
Wouldn’t another option be to adjust exposure composition? I never tried it before but recently I was shooting birds on the river and realised that my exposure composition was set one step to the right, so it blew out the whites on the head of the Coot. It I set it a step or two to the left, shouldn’t that counteract hatsh light conditions?
What about when shooting mountains when the snow and mid day sun blows it out
Can you help me with my indoor high school volleyball struggles? The gym isn’t well=lit, the walls are bright white, players are mostly white, resulting in very harsh backgrounds. When I shoot from the side, my background is dark blue (blue jerseys) with a white wall above (confusing the camera?), and add to that, fans with multi-colored shirts, etc. I shoot with AWB -white priority, and my normal settings are: 2.8, 6400 iso, and 800 – 1000 shutter (with a 70-200 Canon lens). ANY advice is most-welcome.
There is no such thing as "harsh" light! I have done of the greatest shots of wildlife ever and never ever ever went out before 11am and none of my photos were taken after 4pm!!
Another great video Simon. Now on to your Low Light video…….
I was looking for direction when in the safari boat mid day. The polarizer is good. Does an nd filter help?
You are amazing, and your content is top notch as always.
What about improved dynamic range of the camera, how much does it affect
Thanks for the book, Simon, and for your amazing tips. I always find them informative.
"go to shady area" instructions unclear, get caught by undercover cops.
Harsh sunlight sucks. It makes the subject uncomfortable and is very inconvenient to your specific shot. My advice is shoot early morning or early evening when the light isn’t as harsh. Always works for me.
No real advice to deal with harsh light just because… there is none…
Maybe try to find a position where the sun is either between 9 and 10 o´clock or between 2 and 3 and use a pola filter. No magical wand either but it will help in several cases.
When shooting sports where you don´t control anything, all you can do is sit in the shadow and make shots in the shadow…
Do ND filters help when shooting in hash light?
Usually there are even more blown out whites😂 in shady areas.
Interesting tips Simon. A lot of them I follow or have been following (case in point: as recently as last Saturday) but on auto pilot. I used to think I was the one that was facing all these problems and was wondering how pros like you overcome them. Now that you have given me this tip I can be more mindful of these tips and apply them meaningfully or whenever its extremely bright outside. Thanks a ton for these tips!
How about when there is no shade..
I like your channel you actually know what you’re talking about. I think a curve ball would be to cover some of the science usage of camera sensors like the DS-Qi2, DS-Fi3, Digital Sight 50M.
I get it, different field. But it’s still cool to see a 60mp sensor seeing fluorescent at a microscopic level with 16-bit color at 24fps
These companies, Fuji, Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc. are a key reason we’re getting closer to cures and advancing health, science, and discovery.
Photography in general, were at such a macro level, and pretty much ignore the micro level.
Great lesson. Thank u so much
Thx for the tips
How come you don’t mention lens hood?
I’d also add using an RGB histogram as well, and not just a white histogram. Certain colors blow out before others.
I’d also add the use of mirrors as a light modifier to sunlight, constant light, flash, and pop up flashes.
Your photography is insane..!
This is a great channel. Lots of really useful info delivered succinctly. But, I have to admit, 10% of the reason I come here is to hear Simon say, “My name is Simon d’Entremont”.
Why do alot of phones dont struggle with exposure and gets most of the picture in a visual spectrum, where on alot of camera’s you have to chose between blownout skies or very dark shadows?
nice teach..tank u sir… more ..more….pls
Any suggestions for wildlife photos out west where there are no tree shadows. For example here in Montana, a black bear on a bright south-facing slope. Another example a bighorn ram on a bright rocky south facing slope is another example. The background is super bright with harsh sunlight and the subject is relatively dark. Yes early morning would solve the problem, but sometimes it takes me 3 hours hiking up the mountain to get to the area where bears or bighorns are. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I had so much fun with using f16 to get more sunburst points on a recent photowalk. Thanks for that tip!
I prefer to over expose with the camera and in post Adobe Lr mask the subject of the over exposed photo and down expose the background and subject separately.
Wow!!! Thank you Simon, this video opens a new door for me, since I shoot ONLY in the ‘golden hour," a very very narrow window of time, not that doesn’t even last one hour LOL My photography has grown since I started following you, and gratitude is owed to you. My warmest regards for you and your loved ones! 🙏
Hi Simon. Excellent work. Please may I request you to do videos on Shooting snow or black background I know your genre is landscape and wildlife. Any thing to share on indoor flash photography I use canon 5D mark 4. Looking for new canon launch. Thanks Shoeb
I cant find the blinkies on my camera 😅 do all cameras have them?
Ae bracket – Every time I shoot into the light: 5 frames; 2/3 stop between.
ND filters are great
what the freak. 16k for 6 days in africa. ole boy out here scammin people.
Simon you are an AWESOME instructor, I love the way you explain your subject matter, very easy to digest!
You’re literally giving out a professional photographer apprenticeship for free. Thank you. I love how dense and complex your videos are so no matter what kind of photographer you are you learn something useful.
I tried taking pictures in a shady area but I got mugged
3:35 backlit backgrounds
Whatever you do, avoid chicago. It’s way too shady
Went to a shady area too… Traded my camera for fent. The dealer was 12. 😳 What a salesman!
6:45
hey there, I was just wowondering what type of camera and lense you use for bird and wild life pictures, i use fujifilm s900w with 18mm lense and struggle getting sharp pictures
Thank you, Simon. But no blinkies with Nikon straight from the factory settings 🙁
Thank you! You are a wealth of information. 📷👍
shooting for the highlights cut it for my images (most of the time) XD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THGbvFM4rYk
Simon, your videos are bringing new life into my photography. I only recently found your channel (good timing after getting a camera again) and the quick and beautiful lessons in every video for every skill level is incredible. Your seemingly obvious to the pros tip about shooting in the shade with a sunlit background was such a Eureka moment for me and that’s just from this video!