The Natural Light Portrait Book

Watch Out for Light Spilling on Their Face

When you’re out in direct light and putting your subject’s back toward the sun (pretty much standard procedure unless you’re shooting near sunset), make sure some of the light doesn’t peek around and spill onto your subject’s nose or too far over onto their face (like the shot you see above left). A little light skimming the outside edge of their face can look great, but you want your subject’s face fully in shadows with nice, even light, without any harsh spots of light spilling onto their face. It’s okay if light hits the back of their hair (in fact, that rim light halo around their hair can look awesome), ...