Photography is a challenging craft at the best of times, but some lighting conditions make getting an excellent photo more difficult. One of the trickiest times to take pictures is in the middle of a sunny day.

Besides the fact that temperatures are often at their highest around midday, the lighting is also harsh—especially during the summer. As a result, making your subjects stand out—or capturing any kind of shot that looks interesting—is a lot trickier than, say, golden hour.

However, sunny weather doesn’t mean that you should leave the camera indoors. Let’s discuss the best tips for taking better photos in harsh lighting.

1. Go Indoors

Photo of a photographer inside a greenhouse surrounded by plants

Let’s be honest: staying outside at midday during the summer isn’t always pleasant. If you live somewhere with a hot climate, you’ll almost certainly agree with this statement. Temperatures are often uncomfortable, and ultraviolet rays can put your health at risk if you’re in the sun for too long.

If you don’t want to stay outside on those warm days, you can capture plenty of exciting shots indoors. Use the weather as an opportunity to capture the life of your hometown or city inside; you can go to a museum, for example, or you can find a building with intriguing interiors.

In addition to capturing unique pictures that tourists might miss, you’ll have the added bonus of air conditioning.

2. Use a Lens Filter

If you take photos with your standard lens when the lighting is harsh, you might have difficulty getting the colors and tones you want. Fortunately, you’ve got options if you find yourself in this boat.

Using a lens filter is one of the easiest ways to ensure that the sun doesn’t ruin your images. You can find filters for various lens sizes, and many of them are compatible with multiple camera manufacturers.

Lens filters vary in price from brand to brand, and the amount you pay will also depend on the lens size you choose to purchase one for. You can find what you’re looking for online in most countries; to save some money, consider using a second-hand photography store.

3. Shoot in Manual Mode

Contrary to what many people believe, you don’t have to religiously stick to manual mode for capturing excellent photographs. However, you will find that the function is useful in several situations; taking pictures in harsh lighting is one such instance.

When you shoot in manual mode, you’ll have more control over the look and feel of your images. You can determine how much you’d like to increase or decrease the exposure, and you won’t need to worry about your camera compensating with an undesired ISO, aperture, or shutter speed.

If you’ve never used manual mode on your camera, you can find the function by changing your dial to “M”. For cameras without an M dial, you’ll find an equivalent that does the same job.

4. Don’t Shoot in the Direction of the Sun

Have you ever looked at a photo you took on a sunny day and thought was beautiful in the moment, but gasped in horror after uploading it to your computer? In many cases, the issue might have stemmed from shooting directly at the sun.

Taking photos in the same direction as the sun can positively impact your photos—especially if you’re deliberately trying to capture some kind of glare. But if you’re not trying to achieve a particular look, you can make your job much trickier when editing.

In most cases, you can swiftly enhance the look of your pictures by shooting with the sun behind you. Doing so will help you capture better shadows and add further depth to your image. Speaking of shadows…

5. Think About Shadows

Photo of people walking with their shadows

Harsh lighting can make photography more difficult, but one benefit is that such weather conditions often make for darker shadows. And for you as a photographer, these shadows are a fantastic opportunity to capture more dramatic images.

When you’re out and about, try to look for interesting shadows that can create a strong contrast. Examples that you’ll notice in most places include:

  • Trees
  • Buildings and walls
  • Stairways

You can also use shadows and lighting to create unique portraits if you’re photographing a model. For example, you can stand inside with them and get them to peer out of semi-open blinds.

6. Try Black and White Photography

If your usual style of photography doesn’t work well in harsher lighting, you can always try something new. Black and white photography, for example, will always stand the test of time; if you’ve resisted trying this genre, you might find that midday is the perfect time to change that.

Needless to say, black and white photography isn’t as simple as changing the profile on your camera. You’ll need to think about shadows and exposure, along with the scene you shoot. You can try several photography styles, such as streets and portraits.

7. Switch Up Your Editing Style

Image showing the Lightroom logo on a Mac

If you’ve just been out in the sun and struggled to capture shots that you want to be proud of, not all hope is lost. While you should strive to get as much right as possible with the camera while taking the shot, you can still create interesting art in the post-production phase.

Every photographer has their favorite editing software; some prefer Adobe Lightroom, whereas others like Capture One. But regardless of your preference, you can find several tools to alter the look and feel of your images.

If you haven’t changed your editing style in a while, now might be the time to switch it up. For example, tweak your color grading with tools like Adobe Color.

8. Have Fun

Photo of a person taking pictures out a window

We’re going to sound counterproductive for a moment: photography is more enjoyable when your primary focus isn’t on taking the next Instagram banger or capturing portfolio-worthy shots. You can have those goals if you want, but you’ll often set yourself up for disappointment.

As an alternative approach, we recommend making having fun your main objective. Doing so will take the pressure off taking perfect photos, and you’ll almost always get better shots when you don’t think too hard about it.

Most photographers don’t come back from every shoot with a selection of images they’re proud of. Making enjoyment your main objective will ensure that you don’t get too disappointed if you experience one of those days, because at least you had fun.

Don’t Ditch the Camera Just Because It’s Sunny Outside

Many photographers prefer to stay indoors when the lighting is harsh, and their decision is understandable. Taking photos when the sun’s at its highest is often significantly more complex, and your standard style might not be compatible with this particular weather condition.

You can get good photos at all times of the day, however; if you’ve never tried shooting in harsh lighting, think of it as a challenge to overcome. Even if you don’t get any pictures worth shouting home about, you’ll probably still have fun at the very least.