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Category: Traditional Film Photography

Photography Question 

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How to Shoot Facing Toward the Sun


How do I take a photo with direct sun light in the background that does not create glare? Example: Sunrise on the golf course or beach.


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February 10, 2008

 

Samuel Smith
  welcome don,
first,why and where,equipment,filters?
ok,you say sunrise,or are your results an hour after sunrise?humidity makes a big difference as does the angle of the shot.
these shots are very easy under the right conditions but probably not when you want.
if your pointing your camera at the sun with less than 80% humidity,your going to damage your eyes.
a bit more specific would be nice.
sam


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February 10, 2008

 

Christopher A. Walrath
  A lot of factors work into this one, Don. Is your subject illuminated to bring it's brightness value up close to that of your background or can you do so with fill flash, etc? Are you using color reversal (slide) film which records a very narrow latitude of exposure zones or black and white negative films which generally can get detail from seven to eight zones and will get much better detail in your negative? Which way are you facing, into or side on or away from the sun? Are you metering your subject only and getting whited out background? Background only and getting black subject? Or averaging the two manually to get a happier medium to get a bright background and a dark subject but maybe something? Depending on your specific problem there could be numerous ways to approach this for a solution. Just some ideas for you to consider, Don.

Keep it rollin'
Chris


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February 10, 2008

 

Bob Cammarata
  You will get flare if the sun is in the frame unless you "hide it" behind something...OR unless haze obscures and diffuses the direct rays as Sam described.
See Example
A bright rising or setting sun will create backlit silhouettes of the foreground objects. This effect can be dramatic and quite desirable but if you want to record more detail of the foreground you will need to illuminate it somehow.
With practice, you can allow a tiny peek of bright sunlight to enter the frame without getting flare. With a stopped-down aperture setting, a natural starburst effect will record at the point of light where the sun peeks out.
See Example.
You can also elect to display only the backlit foreground elements and allow the bright sun to paint a "halo" of light around them.
In this example, this technique was used.
To eliminate glare, hold up a card or something just out of frame to block the sun and keep stray light from entering the lens barrel. (On this shot I used the brim of my hat.) This is easy to do with practice and a tripod-mounted camera.
After composing the shot, set your timer and move the card around until you see a shadow cast over the top part of the lens and hold it there until the timer runs out.


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February 11, 2008

 

Samuel Smith
  and some don't like bp.i thank you two for reaching in a little farther and helping even me.
it's like the cliff notes of..
well I just say thank you.
sam


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February 11, 2008

 

Robert F. Wilson
 
 
 
Take for example this photo I took, I waited for the sun to go behind the clouds and or plumes of smoke, but it was 4 degrees out and couldn't wait any longer.


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February 13, 2008

 
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