Outdoor Lighting

What are the four techniques you have available to you when trying to improve your lighting at noon?  How do each of these four techniques affect your image?

    Four techniques that I have available to me when trying to improve my outdoor lighting at noon are (1) reflect it, (2) diffuse it, (3) supplement it, and (4) control the location.

    Reflectors allow you to redirect some sunlight into areas that you want it to illuminate and reduce most of the harsh shadows. This eliminates the worst shadows, but only for one side; however, using a white bounce board can solve the other side. This fully lights the face, but still varies in the intensity so that there is still depth in the image.

    The second technique is to use a diffusor, which can dramatically soften the light, reducing the harshness of the shadows. A downside to using this techniques is that you have to expose the image based on the subject, which is now darker than the background, which could lead to an overexposed background. One way to resolve the issue of the background is to add a net behind the subject. Another way is to combine reflectors and a diffusor in order to bring back more light onto the subject and reduce the contrast between the subject and background.

    Supplementing the light is introducing another light source in order to eliminate the harsh shadows. The issue with this technique is that it requires a powerful light in order to combat the sun. Personally, I feel that using one of the other techniques would be easier and more effective than trying to match the sun's strength with a light.

    The fourth and cheapest technique that requires no additional equipment is to control the location. Ideally, you should look for a location where the subject and background is entirely in shade. If you want there to be light on the face, having one side open to sunlight and the other shaded by something such as a building can create an aesthetically pleasing look. Once again, you could combine previous techniques in order to get the desired look you want.