Create Your Own Shade

I love the sun, but when it comes to photography, it sometimes isn't my best friend. Portraits don't look as nice when the sun is high and the skies are clear, because the sun casts harsh shadows and your subjects will squint. There are many ways to mitigate this as I've discussed before. For this shoot, I tried #4, which in short says "bring the shade to your subjects, e.g. with a collapsible translucent disc. My buddy and I shot his cousin's graduation portraits at my alma mater U.C. Berkeley (Go Bears!). It's a lovely campus, but the sun was blazing down on us. You can really see the difference between shooting her under the open sky and shooting her in the shade. Compare for yourself: Unshaded: Shaded: Yes, yes, I know there are a bunch of other differences between the shots like her location, her cap, etc. But notice how in the shade her eyes are less squinty and that the light on her face is more flattering. Here's a shot of the disc in action. Brian and I took turns holding the disc and let me tell you, it can really strain the shoulders after awhile! If you don't have a disc, you can move your subjects under a tree, next to the shady side of a building, or any location that will shield your subjects from direct sunlight. You can see the rest of the photos from the shoot here.