Shooting directly into the sun can yield interesting results, but mostly what it yields is glare. Subjects are silhouetted, shadows are deep, skies are often blown out, and it can be a challenge to get a decent image. In the case of the shot above, I decided to go with the silhouettes and timed the shutter release to capture the jogger as he hit the glare. I underexposed in an attempt to keep the sky from blowing out while allowing the sun and the reflection in the water to do so. I was able to maintain some detail in the shadows using Photoshop and the exposure latitude of RAW images.

There are ways to deal with the glare besides just accepting silhouetted subjects, though. The most obvious way, of course, is to not shoot straight into the sun, but to turn and shoot what the sun is lighting up. Early in the morning or late in the afternoon, the sun provides a warm, complimentary light. If you’re turned less than plus or minus 90-degrees from the sun, then the lens shade on the front of the lens can help preserve contrast by keeping that side glare off the glass. If you don’t have a lens shade, then anything else that shades the lens will work, a hand, a piece of paper, a bystander, a billboard, whatever you have.

In the case of the shot below, I moved indoors, angled myself away from the glare and shot through a round window, using it to frame the subject. I also included part of the chairs to either side to catch some of that warm light on the leather and add to the ambience.

In this next shot, I used the pillar to block out the sun’s glare, while getting the railing and shadows I wanted to capture. I liked the scenery, but what I liked even more was the foreground lines and shadows. The sun’s light bouncing off the windows behind me served as a fill light to preserve details in the railing and pillar.

Note: These shots were all taken while on a cruise up the Inside Passage of Alaska on the NCL Bliss.