Shooting into the Sun
The sun would pop out then back behind a monsoon cloud. The others had gone to the cookie cabin for a peanut butter cookie. I stayed behind in the Tracker cooling off a bit from the hike we had just finished. The sun popped out like a spot light on this single yellow sunflower.
Before I could even get out of the car there was a lady out of her SUV with a camera in her hand shooting this same flower. Her vantage was the same as most, standing up looking down. When she finished I got out and went for the low road, shooting almost directly into the sun. I know she was thinking “Amateur”. Nobody shots into the sun.
I can’t blame her, I would have said the same thing if it had been me. But I knew what I could do with this image. And I could pick the flower or move the sun. Therefore it was up to me to decide what the shot would look like when I put my hand to it not when I took it.
Get it right in the Camera
I’m a big believer in Scott Kelby’s “Get it right in the camera”. Do as little in post as possible. But as I stated above I couldn’t move the sun or the flower so I got the focus right and the subject right now I had to “fix” the light.
You can see the three images to the right. Here is the progression.
- As taken into the sun
- Post process to HDR
- Post process HDR (remove distractions, darken background, increase contrast in background, increase saturation in background)
Quick Tip: When shooting outside in sunlight always snap on the sunlight hood. It takes a few extra seconds and means you need to keep it in your bag, but it is worth the time and effort.
The final image is the mind’s eye result. What do you think of the results?
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