# Bright sunny day shooting



## SW Studio

What is the best camera settings for a bright sunny day. ISO 100 shutter speed? ....


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## zombiesniper

Depends on what you're shooting, what lens you're using. 
Do you need to stop the action? Is the subject stationary. Do you want a large DOF?
Birds in flight 1/2000. Portraits could be 1/60.


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## SW Studio

zombiesniper said:


> Depends on what you're shooting, what lens you're using.
> Do you need to stop the action? Is the subject stationary. Do you want a large DOF?
> Birds in flight 1/2000. Portraits could be 1/60.


50 mm 1.8 85 mm 1.8 large dof mainly portraits.


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## zombiesniper

Okay I'll let the portrait experts chime in here.
I don't own anything in that range.


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## Trever1t

your question really makes no sense. You use the settings to give you the best exposure the same as any other light condition. 

What you really want to ask is how to get a decent shot in very harsh overhead light. 

1) avoid it
2) use a reflector 
3) shoot in the shadows
4) use a strobe, flash
5) scrims
6) any other combination. 

I shoot in terrible light way too often. Practice.


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## SW Studio

Trever1t said:


> your question really makes no sense. You use the settings to give you the best exposure the same as any other light condition.
> 
> What you really want to ask is how to get a decent shot in very harsh overhead light.
> 
> 1) avoid it
> 2) use a reflector
> 3) shoot in the shadows
> 4) use a strobe, flash
> 5) scrims
> 6) any other combination.
> 
> I shoot in terrible light way too often. Practice.


Thank you, i know its not the easiest, but to shoot at wide open at 1.8 would you still recommend ISO at 100? or if i go to f11 shutter speed 1/500...


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## Vtec44

There isn't one.  You'll have to make that call based on various requirements like strength of the light, angle of the light, direction of your subject(s) in relation to the light, etc. You're shooting digital, why not try it out?  I shoot f1.6 in mid day light but settings are never the same because lighting conditions are never the same.


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## Trever1t

SW Studio said:


> Thank you, i know its not the easiest, but to shoot at wide open at 1.8 would you still recommend ISO at 100? or if i go to f11 shutter speed 1/500...



It makes absolutely no difference if you have the necessary shutter speed to make a good exposure.


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## tirediron

There's no point in asking about "settings" until you understand exposure, and how the three main elements (ISO, SS, Aperture) are inter-related and what effect(s) each can have on the exposure.  Get a copy of the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson and read it.  Then, re-read it.  Once you've done that, I expect that a WHOLE bunch of things will fall into place for you.


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## Designer

Here is the "rule" explained:

The Sunny f/16 Rule for Digital Exposure - For Dummies


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## Designer

SW Studio said:


> 50 mm 1.8 85 mm 1.8 large dof mainly portraits.


Probably choose the wider of the two lenses, keep the aperture smallish (say f/8 or f11), and maintain adequate distance from camera to subject.

You didn't ask about light, but shooting in brilliant sunshine comes with its own set of issues.


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## astroNikon

You can always add a ND or CPL FILTER to put you at the shutter/ aperture that you want to be at.   I keep a range of ND and a CPL available when I go shooting.   Sports or portraits outdoors.


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## Dave442

The good thing is that all the settings that give a correct exposure can be the "best". Your going to have to decide which combination of the settings is "better" for your needs.

I think you meant a small DOF as you are asking about shooting at f/1.8 and ISO 100. For portraits I would be using the 85mm.


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## Designer

Dave442 said:


> I think you meant a small DOF as you are asking about shooting at f/1.8 and ISO 100. For portraits I would be using the 85mm.


He said "*large* dof" and whether the ISO is at 100 or not, he will most likely be stopped down, keeping the DOF "large".  By using the longer (85mm) lens, the DOF will be thinner, *not* "larger".

I agree that my choice for portraiture would be the 85mm, but that is not the question that was asked.

And remember, Dave442, this post is in the "Aspiring Professionals" forum, so I assume he already knows something.


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## Dave442

Thank you Designer. I know the OP first asked about a large DOF, but then later said...



SW Studio said:


> but to shoot at wide open at 1.8 would you still recommend ISO at 100?



So from assuming he knows f/1.8 is a narrow DOF (and that he mentioned portrait photography) I was looking for clarification of the amount of DOF actually desired.


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## Designer

It is unknown why he would shoot at f/1.8  on a sunny day, unless he wanted to capture something  moving at high velocity, therefore needing a shutter speed of 1/4,000 of a second.

But he absolutely could.


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## gsgary

F16 ,  1/125 ,sunny 16

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk


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## Designer

gsgary said:


> F16 ,  1/125 ,sunny 16


That's nice, Gary, but the OP says he wants to shoot at f/1.8.


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## table1349

Designer said:


> It is unknown why he would shoot at f/1.8 with ISO 100 on a sunny day, unless he wanted to capture something  moving at high velocity, therefore needing a shutter speed of 1/4,000 of a second.
> 
> But he absolutely could.


I could hunt bear with a .22 cal too, but I wouldn't want to.   Personally high velocity portraits are not my thing.


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## Designer

I guess if you were to put enough 5.56 rounds into a bear, he would eventually go down.  But you're right; that would not be my first choice for hunting bear.


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## astroNikon

gryphonslair99 said:


> Designer said:
> 
> 
> 
> It is unknown why he would shoot at f/1.8 with ISO 100 on a sunny day, unless he wanted to capture something  moving at high velocity, therefore needing a shutter speed of 1/4,000 of a second.
> 
> But he absolutely could.
> 
> 
> 
> I could hunt bear with a .22 cal too, but I wouldn't want to.   Personally high velocity portraits are not my thing.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that just peeve a bear off until they munched on you?


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## Designer

The first two our three would definitely peev him off, but as I said, eventually he would go down.

Besides, I was hoping folks would realize that I was talking about 5.56 Nato, not .22 LR.


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## EIngerson

OP, You really have to have a grasp on exposure first. "settings" don't mean anything without a proper or usable exposure goal.


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## gsgary

Designer said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> 
> F16 ,  1/125 ,sunny 16
> 
> 
> 
> That's nice, Gary, but the OP says he wants to shoot at f/1.8.
Click to expand...

Well he's a bit of a plonker if that's what he wants to do

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk


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## KmH

SW Studio said:


> 50 mm 1.8 85 mm 1.8 large dof mainly portraits.


Most f/1.8 lenses have to be stopped down 2 or more stops before they deliver their sharpest focus.
To have good subject scale in the image frame with those lenses you would need to be fairly close to the subject which would give a pretty shallow DoF even having those lenses stopped down a couple of stops .

To get a deep DoF you would have to stop down even more.
If you use a camera with an APS-C size image sensor and a lens aperture smaller than f/8 expect diffraction to start diminishing focus sharpness the smaller the lens aperture gets (f/11 to f/22). If you use a camera that has a full frame image sensor it's going to depend a lot on which camera you use.
Diffraction Limited Photography: Pixel Size, Aperture and Airy Disks

Light direction and quality will have a lot to do with what settings will be the most flattering to the subject.
You don't say what lighting aids, if any, you will be using.
At the least I would want a couple of reflectors for fill light and a couple of diffusion panels to create some shade.

The color temperature of the light changes somewhat throughout the day too so you'll also want to keep a close eye on that.

Most of the time when I shot portraits outside I did so early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid the harsh and not flattering high angle light the Sun delivers as it gets higher in the sky. For morning shoots I was usually set up and ready to go just before sunrise. For afternoon shoots I usually planned to be done by sunset. The higher the sun gets the harder it is to effectively angle reflective and diffusing lighting aids.
I only rarely ever did outside shoots without lights with light modifiers on them.
I never did outside shoots without reflectors, diffusion panels and some scrims.


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