What do you do about squinting?

Dusty Sensiba

I really like to do outdoor portraits, but many of my subjects squint in the sunlight. Side or backlighting doesn't work in every situation.

A friend told me to have everybody close their eyes until right before I open the shutter, but I wonder if you all have other techniques for overcoming the problem.

JESTER

Try shooting in early morning or late afternoon light. Not as bright. The "golden hours" are just after dawn or just before dusk. Another technique is to shoot in shade and reflect light onto the subject. If you have to shoot in midday try to get them used to the sun before the shot, i.e. no sunglasses beforehand, etc. And you can also try the closed eyes but depending on how many people you are shooting at once that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Don't have them stare at the sun but look in the bright direction before the shot to get them used to it.

Some peoples' eyes are very light sensitive and you will always get the squinting. Good luck.

Paulcao

Dusty Sensiba wrote:

A friend told me to have everybody close their eyes until right before I open the shutter, but I wonder if you all have other techniques for overcoming the problem.

This works if you're shooting a small number of ppl, but dont try it with more than say...3-4 imho. Cause if you do, you risk getting some ppl eyes looking weird, just from personal experience. I like the idea of letting ppl get used to the light, I really can't think of anything else. To be honest--I use that 'open the eyes' trick for ppl who blink on flashes, not really for squinting. I hadn't really had too much problems with squinting---then again, maybe a little squinting doesnt bother me too much.