When working outside in bright light, I find it helpful to try and keep the sun to my client’s back, creating a soft even shadow on the front of their faces. By positioning my clients with their back’s to the sun, I am able to keep their faces evenly light and am preventing harsh shadows on any one person’s face. This is especially helpful for me here in Florida, when working outside for my portrait shoots. Often, the light doesn’t get soft until 10 minutes before the sun goes down, so I had to come up with other ways to work outside during daylight hours and achieve nice beautiful lighting. Often, I look for trees or other natural elements (like the pilings at the beach) to help me diffuse the sun and break up the light a little bit behind my clients. When you use this trick, you should ideally be able to shoot outside in harsh sun throughout the entire day. The key is keeping the sun behind your subject at all times.
