Shooting In The Harsh Midday Sun

 

Finding the Light: A Child Portrait Session with Poppy

Some portrait sessions remind you why photography is about so much more than simply having the “perfect” conditions.


Poppy’s portrait session was one of those.

We were shooting in the middle of the day, with bright, harsh sunlight — probably one of the trickiest times to photograph a young child outdoors. The light was strong, the shadows were deep, and there was very little of that soft, flattering light that photographers naturally look for.

But sometimes you just have to work with what you’ve got.

A young girl in a white dress and hat twirls joyfully in a golden summer meadow with trees in the background.
A mother in a beige dress holds her toddler daughter in a sunny park field with green trees in the background.
A mother with red hair kisses her curly-haired toddler girl in a white dress outdoors.

Rather than fighting the midday sun, I started looking for ways to use it.


The trees became our best friend.


Under the canopy, I could find little pockets of shade where the light was softer, while still allowing small areas of sunlight to filter through the leaves. Those little patches of light created beautiful separation and gave the images a much more natural, dreamy feel.



It meant constantly moving, watching where the light was falling, and waiting for Poppy to step into just the right spot.


With children, of course, you can’t always expect them to stand exactly where you want them to — and that’s part of the fun!


Instead of forcing the session, I followed her lead. We explored the woodland, played with bubbles, wandered through the flowers and let the moments happen naturally.

A toddler girl in a white lace dress stands on a tree-lined path, touching her face with one hand.
A smiling red-haired woman crouches beside a curly-haired toddler girl, both wearing white dresses in a sunny park.
Young girl in white lace dress with pink bow leans against tree trunk in sunlit park setting.
A young girl with curly blonde hair in a white lace dress reaches for wildflowers in a sunlit meadow.

Making the most of difficult light


Bright midday sunlight can be unforgiving.


If you expose for the highlights, the shadows can become too dark. If you expose for the shadows, you can quickly lose all the beautiful detail in a white dress.


And Poppy’s beautiful lace dress certainly gave me a challenge!


White clothing in strong sunlight can easily become completely blown out, while her face might still be sitting in shade. Getting the exposure right in-camera was therefore really important, but I also knew I would need to be thoughtful with the editing afterwards.


I had to get creative.

Rather than trying to make every image look like it had been taken during golden hour, I embraced the contrast that the day gave us. I worked carefully with the highlights and shadows, bringing back detail in the dress while lifting the darker areas of Poppy’s face and surroundings.


The aim was to keep the images bright and airy without losing the texture and delicate detail of the lace.

Letting the environment tell the story

 

One of my favourite things about this session is that the difficult conditions actually helped create some of the atmosphere.


The dappled light through the trees gives the photographs a lovely sense of depth. The darker woodland backgrounds make the white dress stand out, while the little bursts of sunlight create beautiful highlights and bokeh.


And then there were the bubbles.

Watching Poppy chasing bubbles through the woodland gave us some of the most playful images from the session. Those photographs feel less like traditional portraits and more like little snapshots of childhood — exactly the kind of memories I love capturing.

A curly-haired toddler girl in a white lace dress blows soap bubbles outdoors in a sunlit garden.
A young girl in a white lace dress reaches up joyfully along a tree-lined path in a sunlit park.

Sometimes the “wrong” conditions are the right ones

 

As photographers, we’re often taught to look for soft morning light, golden hour and overcast skies.


And yes, those conditions can make life much easier.


But real life doesn’t always happen at the perfect time of day.


Sometimes a family can only make a particular time work. Sometimes the sun is blazing. Sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate. And sometimes, despite all of that, you can create something really beautiful.


This session with Poppy was a perfect reminder of that.


It wasn’t about waiting for perfect light. It was about finding the good light that was already there.


By moving into the shade, using the pockets of light between the trees, carefully positioning Poppy and then getting creative during the editing process, we were able to turn a challenging midday session into a collection of soft, timeless childhood portraits.


And honestly, I think that’s one of the most rewarding parts of being a photographer — taking less-than-perfect circumstances and finding the beauty hiding inside them.

A curly-haired toddler girl in a white lace dress crouches on grass in a sunlit park.
A toddler girl with curly blonde hair wearing a white lace dress twirls outdoors in a sunlit field.
A woman in a white dress plays with a young girl in a sunlit tree-lined park path.
Toddler girl in white lace dress with curly blonde hair walking through a sunlit park path.
A curly-haired toddler girl in a white lace dress holds an adult's hand in a sunlit green park.
A smiling toddler girl with curly blonde hair wearing a white lace dress stands outdoors in a garden setting.
Curly blonde toddler girl in white lace dress reaching up outdoors.