Ideally you don't want to shoot under the sun at mid day. Overcast, dusk/dawn are the photographers 'golden' hours to shoot because the lighting is a soft gel across the face. Mid day it causes heavy shadows under the eyes and doesn't look professional. If at all possible shoot in the shade because you'll have this nice soft gel. BUT that won't always be the circumstance, so what can you do if have to shoot in the sun with no cover?
Here is an example of my subject with hard sun light across her face. The left side is too dark and the face doesn't look complete.
Flash:
With the regular pop-up flash built in on most DSLRs those shadows can be filled in.
In the menu you can change the Flash exposure compensation to make the flash stronger or weaker. It was made stronger here in this image overexposing the image but you get the point of what you can do with this. If you aren't filling in the shadows just turn up your Flash until it is where you like it.
For bigger groups you'll want something more than the built in flash. This will give you more versatility on the harder situations.
Reflector:
This image we used a reflector to bounce the light from the sun into the shadows.
It's not perfectly placed but for now it gets the job done. Usually you'll want to have a helper hold the reflector so it can be positioned correctly.
Polarizer:
The polarizer filter is a MUST HAVE for any photographer who wants to shoot outdoors.
What does the polarizer do? It gets rid of reflections.
Foreheads, leaves, windows, water are just some of the objects that reflect sunlight and leave a glare in your picture. The polarizer can take the reflection out and leave a more natural and more saturated look.
Compare the two images:
w/ polarizer
Notice how you can see the skin more clearly with the polarizer. And the glare from the hair is gone too. Did you notice the green leaves in the background as well? Their reflective surface is now eliminated leaving a deeper green and more saturated photo. The polarizer is the most noticeable when taking pictures with a blue sky and clouds (look at my blog post here to see the sky photos).
The polarizer helps your mid day pictures so that the shadows aren't SO dark if you don't have a way to fill them with light.
These are just a few simple suggestions to help take the ugliness out of noon day photos.
Please let me know if this has helped you or if you happen to have any other suggestions!
