Harsh Daylight

I’ve tried to photograph in harsh light for years. Unlike film, digital has less latitude in its highlights, which is why you must get creative. In practice, I’ve found several patterns and techniques that have helped me become more consistent in my outdoor photography.

You have to let the camera do its job. Each camera band provides excellent default settings and automation to help you in harsh light. Cameras output images that look a little dark to retain highlight information. So, expose regularly and raise exposures by one stop in post to achieve brighter results.

Please do not fear auto white balance. When recording in Camera RAW, set the white balance to auto and increase color temperature by 300 kelvin in the post to cancel out cool color casts. If shooting in JPEG, I recommend applying a custom white balance of 5,800k.

Please do not fear JPEG. Camera manufacturers like Canon apply excellent color science to their JPEG files. Avoid converting your RAW data to DNG. You want to edit as much as possible within your camera’s proprietary software. The advantage of DNG is backward compatibility over time.

In photography, there’s an exposure triangle where we balance shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to expose an image correctly. Like exposure, there’s an editing triangle, where we balance brightness, contrast, and saturation to achieve natural-looking results. Do not fear low-contrast imagery. 

Many amateur photographs look dark, contrasty, and oversaturated. My way of making images is just one of many, yet what’s important is being present and focused because it heals and replenishes us, even in black-and-white photography.