6 top tips for taking a good photo in sunlight
By Photobox on 28 May 2026
Bright sunny days are glorious for our moods but are notoriously difficult for our cameras. To help, here’s our expert guide on how to take good pictures in bright sunlight (and nail the shot every single time).
Scrolling through your camera roll after a lovely sunny day out should be an absolute joy. It’s definitely a little less fun when you realise half your snaps feature heavily squinting faces and completely washed-out backgrounds.
Taking a brilliant photo in sunlight can feel like an impossible task when the weather is oh-so-bright (even if we do want the sunshine to stay forever). The great news is that you absolutely don’t need to be a professional photographer to work with the elements and take beautiful sunlight pictures.
To add even more expert advice to our guide, we spoke to Fabiola, a Senior Designer here at Photobox (who also happens to be a very talented photographer). She’s given us all the best tricks for bright sunlight photography. Ready to dive in?
1. Make the most of golden hour for dreamy sunlight photos
We already know the beauty of golden hour – that very specific window of time shortly after the sun rises or right before it sets. But did you know this time of day gives you the absolute best sunlight for photography too?
The light sits much lower in the sky and naturally gives everything a kind of ethereal glow (it’s giving #nofilter). Snapping your beautiful sunlight pictures at this exact time guarantees amazing results with zero editing required. For a seriously dreamy effect, try positioning your subject so the light hits the side of their face to add some depth. Chef’s kiss.
Golden hour’s universally considered the best sunlight for photography and we 100% agree. And because the soft lighting is so flattering, these snaps always end up being firm favourites. You’ll definitely want to turn your beautiful sunlight pictures into some photo prints for your wall. They also look brilliant on the front of our custom cards to send sunny greetings fit for any occasion.
Want to make sure the rest of your summer photos look just as good? Have a quick read of our best photo tips for summer guide.
2. Beware of the midday sun
Shooting when the sun is directly overhead can often be the enemy of getting decent photos in bright sunlight. If you want to know how to take portraits in harsh sunlight without your mates aggressively squinting at the lens, you need to get a little bit clever with your setup.
Try to find some open shade, like under a leafy canopy or the side of a building, to instantly diffuse the glare. If you want to get seriously technical and don’t mind looking a teeny bit ridiculous in public, ask a mate to hold up a white t-shirt just out of the frame. You can use it as a makeshift reflector to bounce the light back onto their face. This (slightly) niche hack helps you master your sunlight on face photography and prevents those heavy dark shadows.
These squint-free snaps are the best excuse to order a fresh batch of photo prints, or even photo magnets to stick straight on the fridge.
3. Play with the shadows
We know we just spent an entire section telling you to hide from the midday sun. However, Fabiola reckons you should occasionally throw the rulebook out the window – and we’re here for it.
Fabi’s tip:
Her insider trick for direct sunlight photography is to actively use the harsh light to your advantage. Snapping a sunlight photo at midday gives you incredibly punchy colours and really sharp dark shapes. Let nature be your light source and use those striking dark patches to define your composition.
Keep your eyes peeled for things like slatted fences or patterned window blinds, which cast amazing geometric shadow shapes over your subject and create a totally unique vibe for your sunlight photos. In a super interesting and bold take on photo storytelling, you could even take pictures of the actual shadows themselves instead (pretty artsy, eh?).
Moody and high-contrast snaps definitely deserve to be shown off on a larger scale. We highly recommend turning your favourite edgy shots into a massive poster print to give your space a really modern and trendy feel.
4. Embrace the drama of silhouettes
Pointing your camera straight into the glaring sun feels totally wrong, but it’s actually the secret to a brilliant silhouette. If you’re wondering how to take photos against the sun, the trick is to shoot the brightest part of the sky.
This creates a lovely glowing edge around your subject while turning them into a bold dark shape in front of the sky. It’s an amazing trick for photography against sunlight and instantly upgrades the contents of your camera roll.
Because these dramatic shots look incredibly professional, they’re absolutely brilliant for home decor. A bold silhouette makes the most amazing canvas print (or any wall art, for that matter) for your living room in our very humble opinion.
Curious about what other styles you can play with? You’ll love our guide on the types of shots in photography.
5. Boost your colours
We have another genius idea from Fabiola for your photography in sunlight. A really sunny spring or summer day naturally makes the world look incredibly vivid. You can easily lean into this by taking a collection of sunlight pictures that all share the exact same bold colour scheme.
Fabi’s tip:
If you want to make those blues and greens look even richer, why not try holding a pair of polarised sunglasses over your phone lens? We love that it acts like an expensive camera filter and cuts out all the surface reflections, like the glare from the sea. Thank us later.
Once you’ve got a collection of seriously colourful photos in sunlight, you definitely need to show them off. A matching set of snaps looks absolutely stunning grouped together as a big photo collage print, and will give your living room a gorgeous seasonal upgrade without needing to pick up a paintbrush.
Since water causes a massive amount of glare, the coast is the absolute best place to test out our sunglasses trick. If you are heading to the seaside soon, our guide on how to take great beach pics will help you capture the ocean perfectly.
6. How to take photos in bright sunlight using your phone
Getting the technical settings right is just as important as the lighting. If you want to know how to take pictures in direct sunlight with an iPhone or Android, you need to use the hidden brightness slider.
Tapping your screen to focus will bring up a tiny sun icon. Drag it downwards to manually darken the screen before you take the shot. Capturing a slightly darker picture of sunlight is always the smartest move because you can easily brighten it in an editing app, whereas a completely white and overexposed sky is pretty impossible to salvage.
Turning on your camera gridlines is another fantastic hack to keep your horizon straight while you mess around with the exposure.
Speaking of gridlines and exposure hacks, these are exactly the tools you need when taking DIY passport pictures. If you’re sorting out your travel admin, our guide on how to take passport photos using your phone explains exactly how to use these settings to get your pictures accepted.
Figuring out how to take pictures in the sunlight takes a little bit of practice, but the results are completely worth it. Once you’ve got a camera roll full of perfectly lit memories, it’s time to make sure they see the light of day. Why not hold onto the sunny energy and curate your snaps into a photo book, so you can flick through every time you need an instant mood boost?
