It's a Beautiful Day for Photos! The Sun is shining…. {Leander, TX Photographer}

"It's such a lovely day for photos! The sun is shining and…"

Stop. Right. There.

Most clients have an image in their mind of the perfect photo. The sun is shining brightly, the sky is bluer than blue, and it's beautifully warm without a breeze. You wouldn't believe how many times I hear this.  You also wouldn't believe how many times I am asked to reschedule because it's a cloudy day.

No.  Believe me, you think that is what you want, but it isn't really what you want. You want your skin to glisten. You want your eyes to sparkle. You want your photo to be bright and lovely.  Yes.. I want those things too, but I want them in the shade of the beautiful clouds.

Full sun does wicked things to photos. It creates beastly shadows and ugly, bright, hot spots on the skin. It makes you squint like nobody's business. It washes out the colors and blows out the sky.  The sun can be evil when it comes to photography.

So, the next time you have your photos taken, don't look for the noon session in the full sun.  Go in the early morning, or in the evening just before the sun sets for the beautiful warm glow that the sun will give. Look for clouds and beautiful shade. If your photographer has a reflector or diffuser, that's even better!  Your eyes will be open, your skin will look lovely, and your photographer will thank you.

In the end.. it's a win/win situation!

The photo below on the left is a full sun photo with no retouching. Notice the harsh shadows, and bright spots on the side of her face and on her arms.  That cannot be fully corrected, even in Photoshop.

The photo on the right was take a few minutes later, slightly different angle,  the same location but in a different spot, using a big diffuser to block the harsh light.  Beautiful, even light.  This photo very has little retouching.

Which one would you rather see on your wall?  :)