Shooting into the sun

Looking for any tips or advice on shooting into the sun (or a bright moon for that matter).

I have had reasonable success with multiple graduated ND filters etc., and my polarizer seems to help (even though you're not at the ideal angle to the sun) but thought I'd poll the experienced group here for any other tips or ideas.

For clarity, I do mean shooting straight at the sun, i.e. trying to get a backlit image with the sun as part of comp, not just shooting in the general direction of the sun but with it out of the image.

Any ideas always appreciated, I'm learning tons from everyone here.

Thanks in advance.

-- Bass

Use a fixed focal-length lens.

Pete D.

Make sure your lens and ND grad are really really clean.


Kent in SD

I'm probably not qualified to reply but if you are speaking of extreme contrast issues can't you take a double photo? I shoot a lot of sunsets and am interested in more comments on good "into the sun" photos. I just live with the dark areas and ususally go for the color in clouds.

And, I rembered this from several years ago:

http://www.photocritique.net/digest/Apr-1998.html

I like to make telephoto landscapes looking into the sun. The sun appears large in the frame - I call them sun-ball pictures. The sky conditions have a lot to do with how the picture is going to look. Ideally, haze or thin clouds are best. They subdue the strong light of the sun, so that it doesn't overpower everything else. Sun-ball pictures usually involve silhouettes, but everything on the ground isn't black and often a layering effect can be achieved. Shooting into the sun in a relatively clear sky can cause most features on the ground to appear black and much detail will be lost. On the other hand, if the clouds are too heavy, they will just hide the sun.

Don't forget to look behind you. Often, the sky opposite the rising or setting sun can be spectacular.