Utilize Backlight - Better Photos... Now!

We've all seen a photo where there's a  group of people looking at the camera, but they're squinting because they're looking directly into the sun.  It's an easy mistake to make.  You want your subject to be well lit and there's not a better light source than the sun, right?  The only problem is that the resulting photo isn't that great, it's got deep black shadows and your subject is now temporarily blind.  What other options do you have?  Backlight!

By placing the sun behind your subjects, you've completely changed the look of your photo.  Your subjects are no longer squinting, so that's good.  If you've exposed for the shadows on their faces, all of their features will be visible.  Unfortunately, your background is a lot brighter than your subject, so now it's probably pure white.

By getting a little creative with your subject placement, you can create a more interesting background than just pure white.  Find a tree that you can place between your subject and the sun and you'll get a colorful and interesting background for your subject.  You can also use your flash or reflect some light back into their faces to decrease the contrast between your subject and the background (for a reflector, I use a Tri-Grip).  Just be careful you don't reflect too much light or they're going to start squinting again!

Backlighting is a technique that changes for every situation and takes practice to master.  Be patient and keep practicing and eventually you'll start to get results that you're very happy with.  Your subjects will thank you.

NOTE: The entire time your subjects have the sun to their backs, you are facing the sun.  Never look at the sun through your camera!  Also, don't forget to turn around once in a while and see how the light actually looks when it falls directly on something.  Sometimes the intensity of the sun decreases while you're taking photos and you can use it to directly light your subject with beautiful sunlight!

Here's an example of a photo with strong backlight and reflected light
to fill her face.

Here's another example with strong backlight and reflected fill light.

Here's a more subtle example of backlighting, but this time there is
no reflected light.

Read all of my DSLR tips here.