I can't think of a more perfect way to kick off the beginning of summer (for most of us at least) than diving into the topic of full sun! Full sun is probably one of my favorite photography techniques. Kind of shocking since I always used to shy away from it. Harsh light and deep shadows were something I used to dread terribly! But after going through our lessons and getting out and practicing, its amazing to see how all that light just adds so much vibrancy to our everyday lives. I don't know about you, but we live our best lives when the sun is high in the sky! And I am loving all the summer vibes captured in the last couple weeks. From bright blue skies, to deep playful shadows and some truly amazing storytelling.
Here are some of my favorites! Enjoy!
Angie Warmington
Gear: canon 6d mk ii, sigma art 35mm
Settings: f/5, 1/1600, ISO100
The Shot: My son was riding his bike along the top of the skate ramp, there is a dairy farm right behind which I didn't want in my frame so I got down low and shot up towards him and into the sky (thanks to last months perspectives lessons!)
Post Processing: In lightroom I applied a preset, straightened then increased exposure a little bit, I applied a radial filter on my son to increase exposure on him a little bit more and removed some of the shadows on him, I also make a couple of slight adjustments to white balance and orange luminance
Gear: Canon 6D, 35m, 1.4
Settings: SO 100, f/2.8, 1/800 sec
The Shot: My husband was helping my daughter across the monkey bars, so I climbed up the opposite side and shot straight on as she came toward me.
Post Processing: Edited in LR. Soulmate 07 POP, dehaze, and warmed it up a TON
Gear: Sony 6500 20mm 2.8
Settings: 1/640, f5.6, ISO 100
The Shot: Still desires of the perspectives but in full sun. First hike after confinement. A baby who wakes up late and here we are at 11am (in Reunion) starting our walk. I positioned myself on my knees to create this perspective, these shadows and these lines! I had "ordered" a race in the middle but my son is a little more on the right.
Post Processing: Black and white is imposed quickly to highlight the play of shadows and hard light. I forced the blacks and the contrast. I have corrected the lens distortions.
Gear: Sony a7iii 24-70lens shot at 30mm
Settings: f2.8 SS: 1/1000 ISO: 100
The Shot: I shot this by sitting on the ground behind our swing set. My son was running and jumping and hanging on and swinging on this bucket swing like this so I was trying to capture him in the swing.
Post Processing: Edited in lightroom: applied Smal01 preset, increased the shadows, increased luminance.
Gear: Canon 5d mark iii
Settings: ISO 100, 1/2000, f/2.8
The Shot: This was the moment they walked out of the church. Sun directly behind me, slightly over my right shoulder. No excuse but to shoot—full sun or not! I backed way up so I could get most of the chapel in and have greater DOF at a wider aperture (which is how my camera was set for inside during the service—very little time to change that over, so I just cranked up my SS and lowered my ISO quickly.)
Post Processing: Edited using smal 1. Radial filter to brighten subjects. Gradient filter for the sky to add back more detail.
Gear: Canon 5DIV, 24-70 mm f/2.8
Settings: 24 mm, 1/1,250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320
The Shot: Lying on my back
Post Processing: Increased contrast and warmth overall. Increased exposure on my daughter and her ribbon. Straightened and played with the colours including increasing saturation. Extended the canvas around her left hand a bit
Gear: Sony A7RIII, 16-35mm f/2.8 Sony lens
Settings: 16mm f/11 1/640sec ISO 100
The Shot: Beach walk. I saw the amazing cloud formation and the glistening sand with the ripples and knew I needed a star burst with my son in it
Post Processing: In LR: Used a preset then increased texture and clarity in the centre third. Used an s in the tone curve, reduced noise. In PS: erased dust, sharpened.
Gear: Nikon d750 & 70-200mm.
Settings: ISO 1250, SS 1/1600, f/4.5, 200mm.
The Shot: I stood at the stream edge waiting for an action shot of the ducks. I almost gave up because it was such an overcast day, & the ducks kept moving away from me, but as I was about to pack up & leave this fella look right at me and flapped his wings...& thankfully the sun poked through the clouds at just the right time.
Post Processing: I imported to LR, cropped to get his reflection in the frame, then took it into photoshop and reduced a lot of the reds and greens, bumped up contrast, & placed a slight matte over the image, masking off the duck just to make him pop a little from the background.
Gear: Canon 70D 17-55mm 2.8
Settings: 1/500 f7.1 ISO 100
The Shot: I stood on my porch watching my kids blow giant bubbles and waited until my daughter walked in the sunny spot between two shadows to get a shot of the shadow of her and the bubble.
Post Processing: Cropped in tighter and chopped off my daughter's head to draw more attention to the bubble and shadow. Adjusted exposure, warmed WB slightly, added more saturation to bubble shadow with brush tool.
Gear: Canon 5D MK III 35mm
Settings: f1.4 1/3200sec ISO160.
The Shot: I have driven past this old barn many many many times and have always wanted to shoot with it as a backdrop. One day I noticed encroaching construction as developments are going up left and right. I quickly grabbed my oldest and we headed that way to grab a few pics. I was in the afternoon and the sun was glaring but we just decided to go for it. We made it relatively quick as I was concerned for snakes. I love that we were able to get an image before it will be torn down.
Post Processing: Highlights and shadows adjusted, cropped, sharpened and greens adjusted in Photoshop
Gear: Canon 5D mk III, canon 35 1.4
Settings: ISO 125, f/1.6 1/5000
The Shot: This is a truck that belongs to his grandpas neighbor that he has always wanted to buy off her and it was his only request that he get a shot with it.
Post Processing: I started with a base preset from embrace, brought back in most of the color, added exposure to his face to lighten the dark side then tried to bring down the highlights on the bright side to even it out as much as I could.
Gear: Canon Rebel T6s, 50mm
Settings: ISO 100, f/2.5, 1/2500
The Shot: Got myself a tan waiting on this butterfly in the full sun.. Taken in my mom’s butterfly garden.
Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom phone app, as my computer has been on the fritz. Increased contrast and went with very slightly cooler temperature.
Gear: Fujifilm Xt3 lens XF16-55mm
Settings: Focal length 18mm F4.5 SS 1/4000
The Shot: We went to a local farm with the highest expectations of getting pictures in the sunflower field and this one and a crop of her boots was all I could get since she had all interest in the animals and none in the flowers.
Post Processing: Used smal 3, lowered highlights , upped shadows a bit, increased clarity on the sky and removed power lines and added flare in PS.
Gear: Fuji XT20 with 27mm pancake lens
Settings: F2.8 1/4000, iso 200
The Shot: We actually had a trip out as a family! This was about 20 minute drive from our city and absolutely gorgeous. The sun was bright and hot and I wanted to document my family as well as the beautiful village we walked through.
Post Processing: Edited in LR using Elena Blair outdoor preset as a base, increased clarity over the sky to bring out the clouds.
Gear: Canon 5D MK III 50mm 1.4 ART
Settings: ISO 100 f 3.2 1/800 3.
The Shot: She was sitting in her chair and screaming at me not to take a photo or else delete it.
Post Processing: Edited in LR with a twig and olive preset
Gear: canon 5D mkiv, sigma 35, 1.4
Settings: f/2, 1/6400, iso 200
The Shot: I was sitting and crouching really low. He was walking on a balance beam, and I grabbed this shot.
Post Processing: How did you edit this? In LR, I lowered highlights all the way down, lowered luminance of the sky, slightly lowered blue hues. Taken into PS: darkened shirt and pants + increased saturation. Adjusted levels. I copied the wooden thing on the right, flipped it horizontally, and placed it on the lower left corner - then adjusted it to make it blend more.
Gear: Nikon D500 and 18-300mm
Settings: f10, 1/800, ISO 125
The Shot: I was attending a local unity march to honor George Floyd. I had already reached the destination and turned to photograph people behind me.
Post Processing: Edited in Lr with increased sharpness and whites and decreased highlights and blacks.
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