Full Sun by Sarah Kelley

Full Sun - by Sarah Kelley

We don’t always have the chance to shoot in magical golden light, especially in the summer time when a lot of memories are made before the 9:00 sunset. Sometimes, we have to embrace the harsh light and that’s what I have been doing lately! I live in the PNW where it’s overcast 65 percent of the time, but our sunsets are like nothing else! I always bring the kids to the beach in the evenings, but now that school is out and summer has arrived (I think), I have been stepping out of my comfort zone and getting familiar with harsh light again.

When I first received a message about writing up a lesson for p52clicks I was honored, but honestly, I was more nervous than anything! I am the furthest thing from a “technical” photographer. I break so many “rules” and half the time I feel like I’m not even sure if I know what I’m doing.

We live on an island and all of us are happier at the beach, therefore I want to capture not just my children playing, but the beautiful settings they are surrounded by as well.

So let’s begin -

ISO - When I’m shooting in direct sunlight I have my ISO on a very low setting, usually no higher than 200. This helps me avoid overexposing.

APERTURE- I love to shoot wide open , but I’ve noticed when I have my aperture at 3.5 -4.5 I avoid blowing out the blue sky and I can capture the details of the clouds. I also under expose a bit in camera for this reason. Again, I want to capture the settings that my children are playing in.

RETOUCHING - First of all, I can’t even explain the importance of shooting in RAW and the amount of times it has saved me from completely ruining a great photo. When I am retouching I find myself turning up the blues a bit to help bring out the colors of the sky and water.

Here are a few examples of my most recent summer days:

I encourage you all to play around with your settings, I never have my camera settings the exact same, the light is constantly changing. There is never a right or wrong way to do things!