I am Lindsay Corrigan, a portrait photographer from Eastern North Carolina, and I am so glad you are here! Do you want to learn about photography, get inspired, or share in the creative life with me?This is where you'll see my latest photo shoots, ideas for life, and some photography tips along the way. Make sure to leave a comment! I love hearing from you!
I am Lindsay Corrigan, a portrait photographer from Eastern North Carolina, and I am so glad you are here! Do you want to learn about photography, get inspired, or share in the creative life with me? You're in the right place. I am a writer and story-lover at heart so this is where I share my story and would love to connect with yours. You'll see my latest photo shoots, ideas for life, and some photography tips along the way. So read along, and make sure to leave a comment! I love hearing from you!
- Lindsay
Hi there! I'm Lindsay Corrigan and I create authentic and beautiful natural light portraits for families, dancers and graduating seniors in Eastern North Carolina.
5 Tips to Make the Most of a Blue Sky in Portraits without a Flash.
February 17, 2023
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One mistake a lot of portrait photographers make constantly is to blow out the sky in their portraits. Raise your hand if that is ever you. My hand is up with you. I have plenty of portraits with the sky completely blown out. And sometimes that is unavoidable – on a gray day or when I want to use backlighting from the sun. But when you have a blue sky like the one below, you want that blue to make it through in your images. Here’s how to make it happen without a flash.
1. Put your subject in full sun.
I know. It can be uncomfortable for the subject, but hear me out. It doesn’t have to be super sunny, and she doesn’t look directly at the sun. Have her look to the side, or you get lower than your model, as I do below.
Get below your subject but have her face the sun. I also used a white wall her to add some fill-light on the shadowed portion of her face.
2. Underexpose Your Subject
Repeat after me: “Do not base your exposure solely on your subject.” When you set your exposure settings, it seems to make the most sense to expose for the lighting on your subject. But you really want to look at your entire frame, especially if you want to get those colors in the sky. My aperture is usually at 5.6 or higher when I’m trying to get a blue sky, and I adjust ISO and Shutter Speed accordingly. (And don’t judge me, but I rarely pay attention to how my camera is metering.)
When I want the blue sky to come through in the image, I use movement and get lower than my subjects so they don’t have to look at the sun. Sometimes there will be some dramatic lighting on the face, but you can use that to your advantage by create a moody pose like the one on the right above.
3. Shoot in late afternoon.
If you want to avoid harsh shadows under your subject’s eyes, make sure to be out shooting when the sun is lower in the sky. The sun is usually bluer in the afternoon and the sun is at an angle that will create more flattering shadows. It also helps to be near reflective surfaces or walls to lesson those shadows.
This shoot was less than 30 minutes before sunset and a bit overcast. The sky was so blue behind her when I faced her toward the sun, but the sunset was also super orange, so I had to underexpose her otherwise she would have been glowing – See below. Don’t be afraid to underexpose in camera and compensate later. These tips are also helpful when it comes to shooting sun set portraits. In both of these shots, which occurred minutes after the photographs of the same model above, my model was facing the sun and underexposed in camera.
4. If all else fails, find a window.
The reflections in windows can give you some beautiful sky blue colors because the reflection is less bright than the actual sky. If I want my subject in the open shade, I find some windows reflecting the sky.
In this shot, the window perfectly reflects the sky and skyline of the city while the subject is perfectly exposed.
5. Be okay with a little blow out
Sometimes the sky will be so bright or so gray that blow out is better than actually showing the sky. In this case, I concentrate on my subject and any other background I have available when I expose.
In this image, the pond in the background reflects the beautiful golden hues of the setting sun and the light was also filtering through the tree branches beautifully, but the actual sky was way too bright for me to expose a flattering close-up portrait of my model without any additional lighting. We were also limited in our surroundings and I couldn’t face her toward the sun. I did underexpose her, but I had to watch out for green color cast because of all the grass and trees surrounding us.
I hope these tips help you to capture some beautiful portraits with bright blue skies!
Hi there! I'm Lindsay Corrigan and I create authentic and beautiful natural light portraits for families, dancers and graduating seniors in Eastern North Carolina.