How to Shoot Manually on a Bright Day!

Adapted from my original article How to Avoid Taking Overexposed Photos.

Being outside on a bright sunny day is probably the most ideal time to take photos - but that doesn't mean it's free of problems. What if your photos keep coming out overexposed? What if you're trying to achieve a particular look on manual? You can always mess with the photo's brightness in photo editing programs, but working around physical brightness can present a challenge.

Use fast shutter speeds. A quick shutter speed will let less light into the lens and result in a darker photo.  You can use nearly any other combination of settings as long as your shutter speed is fast enough. Remember that the faster your shutter speed, the less movement your photo will appear to have. Photo editing programs can turn the brightness down, but it's really hard to replicate movement.

Make your aperture smaller by raising the f-stop.  This will allow you to take longer shots (to capture something like motion blur, for instance).  Be aware that raising your f-stop will also increase your depth of field, diminishing any kind of blurred background effect you might want.  A shallow depth of field can be replicated with more intense photo editing programs like photoshop.

Use built-in exposure compensation.  Most cameras will allow you to turn down the exposure with the [EV +/-] setting.  What the camera is actually doing here is a bit complicated, and can very likely result in your camera changing some f-stop or shutter speed settings for you.  In a pinch though, lowering your exposure compensation is a quick way to keep things in check and preserve detail in your photos.

Shoot in the shadows.  Maybe you can't make the sun go away, but you can get out of it.  Trying placing your subjects' backs to the sun.  Consider moving into the shade.  Getting a little less light in your shot will open up your options as far as camera settings.

Shoot in RAW! If your camera has the ability to use RAW, turn it on.  With RAW, more photo information is saved with each shot you take.  This information can later be used by photo editing programs like Aperture to actually turn up your exposure.  The content of your perfectly envisioned shot will remain the same, but you'll be able to set the perfect amount of light right there in the photo editing programs.

Additional Tips

• This article mentions photo editing programs a lot - I know some photographers refuse to use it, but it really is a must. I can't stress it enough.  It's fairly quick to learn and will do nothing short of making your photography look better.
• Though this should go without saying, make sure your flash is off.  You wouldn't be reading an article about over-lit pictures with your flash still on, would you?