OCF In Full Sun
This may be the wrong time of the year to post about shooting in full sun but I am living life dangerously and sharing anyway.
I love taking my flash outside and wanted to quickly go over some tips you may find helpful for using OCF in your outdoor adventures that take place with harsh, over-head sunlight.
I need to be upfront and tell you that shooting in bright mid-day light is not normally something I am excited to do. When I do shoot during these times it is usually in wooded or shaded areas. Like a lot of photographers, noon-sun is not my favorite BUT I still think life happens when the sun is high in the sky and it is good to have some tools in our proverbial belt to help us out.
Shooting in full sun can be a challenge both with and without OCF. Our tiny speedlites lack the power to compete against the sun but there are a few things you can do to maximize your light output. This first tip is just for a small hotshoe style Speedlite, as the more powerful strobes will fair better if going head to head with the sun.
Tip1: Use it Close and Bare
If you really need to get all the light that you can out of your flash, use it bare and close to your subject. When you use a modifier, it cuts down on the brightness of your flash. You will need every ounce of power in full sun so help out your flash (and battery power) by using it bare.
Here is a quick pullback:
With flash:
No flash:
Tip 2. Invest in gear with HSS ability.
I really enjoy using my Streaklight 360, it is a small strobe/flash hybrid and it is easy to carry around and also offers more power than a normal hotshoe flash. The best thing about this strobe is that I can use HSS (High Speed Sync) which gives me the ability to use almost any shutter speed I desire.
Normally, when using a flash, you would be locked in to using your camera's maximum shutter sync speed (you will know if you have done this as a portion of your image will be black). This can greatly limit your choice of settings and your ability to create the image you envision.
For both my Canon 5D Mark III and Sony mirrorless, my maximum shutter sync speed is around 1/200 or slower. This really limits my aperture use and my ability to shoot wide open. If I am shooting in bright sun and my shutter speed is at 1/200 of a second then I will be forced to use a small aperture in order to cut down on the amount of light in my image.
To sum up, with HSS ability I have the option to use a faster shutter speed and a wider aperture.
Taken at 1/6400ss and f2.2 with HSS. Without this ability I would have had to use a smaller aperture and my background details would have been in sharp focus.
No flash:
There are drawbacks to using HSS, one being you may lose 1-2 stops of light with this option. Personally, I have never had this be an issue.
Tip 3: Use the Sun as a Second Light
One of the biggest perks of having full sun in OCF images is that you can use it as a backlight on your subject.
The natural light here was beautiful and I could easily increase the exposure on my subject in post, but I wanted more directional light and some nice catchlights in her eyes.
I added the flash with the sun positioned directly behind her and liked the shaping that gave to her face.
The above setup was super simple as I was dealing with young children who were not too interested in standing in my created light. I used my Canon speedlite on a lightstand with an umbrella and would move it as the child moved.
Using flash outside can expand your creative possibilities, and I find that it is beneficial for harsh light situations.
I would love to see your results when you combine flash with harsh sun.
Please let me know if you have any questions!