Photography is a way to capture live moments into memories that to remember in the future. On special occasions, no one can compromise on good photographs. And to get the best photos, it is a must to have good lighting. A common question is often asked, should I use flash for outdoor portrait photography in full sun?
Similar Articles you may like to read –
Best time of the day for outdoor portraits
High Speed Flash Outdoor Portrait Photography
The Best Time of the Day to Shoot Outdoor Portraits
Most beginners think flash is not important to be used in daytime photography, while professionals use it even in daytime to make brilliant shots. Proper balancing of light is prime for a perfect shoot; although sunlight is a great opportunity to avail excess of everything is also not good.
So the idea of using flash light confuses most people about whether to use it or not. The Flash has various benefits in daylight shoot, which we will discuss today in our article below.
Do I need a flash for outdoor portrait photography in full sun?
It’s entirely your choice. Using a flash outdoors in full sun can enhance your photos by reducing harsh shadows on your subject’s face. However, if not properly set, it can result in overly exposed outdoor portraits.
Need Of Flash In Sunlight
Flash used along with the bright and natural light of the sun gives beautiful photographs. It makes strong and hard shadows. This harsh light makes it easier to highlight the pimples, blemishes, uneven skin tone, and visible skin pores, which is not satisfying, and no one wants their photos to be like this.
So if you want to get a natural and soft subtle look with a background by using Flash, you can get it easily. You just need to know how to use Flash.
Portrait photography aims at capturing the personality, character, and emotions. It can either be candid or artistic. Portrait photography requires more than just the ability to understand your camera settings, lighting, and composition.
You must also possess the ability to connect with your subjects and capture their unique qualities. So, it is a difficult but rewarding genre of photography.
Click Below to read a comprehensive guide to learning and mastering the art of portrait photography.
How To Use A Flash in Sunlight?
Only using light is not enough. You need to understand how you will put the flash on your subject in a proper manner to get the perfect shot. There are many things to take care of, like light power from low to high, direction, angle, placement, and many others. To use a Flash for outdoor portrait photography, here are some tips given to help you get some exciting photos outside.
- Distance is important in using Flash, for example; if your object is far away from Flash, then it would be pointless to use Flash. Close the light to the object and camera to get proper lightning because Flash will only reach 10-15 feet.
- You can use off-camera flash along with an actual camera and move coordinately and adjacent to each other. Do not put the flash behind or away from the camera. In this way, it will not give a good result.
- Using a wide angle rather narrow-angle of a camera, by doing this, will more focus on objects than using a narrow angle, surrounding objects other than the main gets focus which is not necessary.
- As sunlight causes strong shadows on the face and makes the pores of the skin more visible, you have to avoid it. To do this, use a wide aperture. Usually, for portraits, photographers use f/2 or f/2.5, which will minimize the shadows and also help in softening skin tone and giving natural texture.
- Use high-speed sync (HSS). In most of the cameras, the flash sync speed is 1/250th of the second. Normally when a flash is used, it will not cover the whole portion, and imbalance lightning will fall on the subject, which is not desired.
- By increasing its speed flash will fall multiple times and will cover the whole image.
- You can also use other objects along with a flash like a white reflector, which will reflect light on the object and also balance light properly.
- If the object is facing directly towards the sun, then ask the subject to turn back or side pose, then use a flash with another gear to brighten the shady portion of the face.
More articles you may like to read –
How to start Outdoor Portrait Photography? for Beginners
Outdoor Portraits Essentials: Natural Light Photography, Fill Flash & Diffusers
outdoor portrait photography tips for better photos
When Not To Use Flash?
It’s not necessary to use flash every time. Because sometimes, flash makes your photo look worse. If you are capturing a portrait from a certain distance, the flash will not reach the subject. It will fall on the near thing than actual. And if there is enough light that is not making such dark shadows, you can use a white reflector or light polarizing filter with no or minimum external light.
An abundance of light exposure will hide actual features and over-brighten the face, which will not look natural.
What Gear To Use With Flash
The use of Flash will not be enough to capture portraits on a sunny day. You will get strong shadows of the harsh light and overly exposed subjects to the light. So using other items will put a cherry on the cake and be conducive to achieving the goal of the perfect photo shoot. In simple words, here are a few ideas to use.
- Use accessories under the shade (umbrellas, balloons, curtains, etc.).
- You can use white walls to reflect light.
- Light reflectors.
- Light filters, and much more.
After making every possible way to get an amazing outdoor portrait in full sun by using flash, you just need to retouch your photos. You can use Photoshop for the final touch. In this way, you can adjust the remaining edits to enhance your final composition and make it ready for public posting.