Filming in hard sunlight (5 easy tricks)

Published on June 25, 2019

Cinematography & Filmmaking

Film in direct sunlight, how to film, list of 5, Tips and Tricks

It’s summer or it is in most countries and this means heat and a lot of sunlight. And of course we all know the struggles of filming outside when the sun is blasting light everywhere. You have trouble with getting everything exposed right, your shadows are super hard, heck the light isn’t even flattering for you subject. So how can you fix this all? Well in this video tutorial we are going to show you how you can get beautiful shots in direct hard sunlight.

Personally I rather like to film on a cloudy day. Here you have the advantage that the clouds will diffuse the sunlight. This will make your shadows nice and soft, which will give you more beautiful shots. The downside for a cloudy is that you have a cloudy sky, which is less appealing then a blue sky. Also you won’t get that natural teal and orange look you get when filming on a sunny day. The sunlight will provide an orange lighting, will the sky will provide the teal. So you get an cinematic feel without doing nothing.

If you now can soften up your shadows, you are completely set. Guess what, it can be done. You just need a white cloth that is semi translucent, use this to diffuse the light on you subject and your shot will be instantly better. Of course there other tips to help you, but for this you need to watch the video.

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