Three Ways to shoot Outfit Photos in sunshine

I often get asked for tips for shooting outfit photos and I've already written a post with some of my top tips for outfit photos but I thought I'd share some tips today about shooting in sunshine. When I was in London last week snapping a quick outfit photo with my friend Jay McLaughlin who is a Professional Photographer, we debated about where I should stand. The one side street I loved had both shade and sunshine and we decided it was a great opportunity to shoot the look in direct sunlight, with the sunshine behind me and with me stood in the shade and then share them all with you on the blog. We've shot all these photos on my trusty Olympus Pen EPL8 with 45mm lens. So here are three ways to shoot outfit photos in sunshine and mine and Jays tips for each style.

I don't often shoot in direct sunlight and I usually advise against it but it is possible to get gorgeous outfit photos in direct sun. The key is the time of year. It doesn't really work in the Summer when the sun is very high. Winter and Spring sun is much better, its softer and lower and those misty sunny days are just perfect. Photos in direct sunlight will give much more of a contrasted look to photos. It also gives amazing glossy finish to hair and items like leather bags etc. To nail the shot make sure your ISO is nice and low and keep an eye on your exposure too.

JAY'S TIPS  "When shooting in direct sunlight, avoid midday sun as you'll create dark shadows under your eyes. You can reduce this by turning your face towards the sun however"

This is my go to way for shooting photos. I find standing in the shade with the sunshine further up the street is a really nice look. Standing in the shade means you won't have any awful shadows cast on you and you should be lit evenly by ambient light.

To get this shot keep your exposure low but do up it if you need to brighten you in the shade.

JAY'S TIPS  "Shooting in the shade is perfect for creating soft light and is a useful method at lunchtime on bright sunny days to avoid unflattering shadows under eyes"

I love photos with the sun behind as I am a big fan of sun flare. The key to getting the right amount of sun flare is to move around and experiment with getting the sun into the lens. Shoot from down low tends to work best. Again Winter or Spring sun works best but you can shoot at the Golden Hour in the Summer when the sun is very low. To read more tips for Shooting Photos at Golden Hour read my post.

JAY'S TIPS  "Shooting into the sun can be tricky as the camera will want to underexpose the image because of the light shining through the lens. Use exposure composition to increase the brightness of your shot"

I hope you found our tips for shooting outfits photos in the sun useful. Let me know if you put any of these into practice and which style is your favourite?

 OUTFIT DETAILS
JACKET (similar) | JUMPSUIT | BAG (similar) | SHOES | SUNGLASSES

Debs

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Photos taken by Jay McLaughlin on the Olympus Pen and 45mm lens

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