Sunny 16 Rule

Spring has always been a wonderful time of year for landscape photographers to find themselves in Holland. Throughout much of the area called West Friesland, the once frozen dark soil is transformed into an explosion of color as thousands of tulips rise from the many farmer’s fields. Although late March singles the beginning of spring, the month of April in Holland is also a reminder that a tug of war is going on between ol’ man winter and the much younger and youthful spring. During much of April the battle plays out in the skies overhead where the clouds and sun seem to jockey for position, each claiming victory if only for a few seconds thanks to the constant sharp and biting winds. But as the wind pushes the clouds, large swaths of sunlight and shadow roll across the landscape below and not surprising, stunning landscapes await any photographer, from beginner to pro. It’s one of those classic lighting situations where NO EXPERIENCE is necessary!

This is truly one of those times where all you have to do is have a “constant finger” on the shutter release and a big enough memory card, 16GB, 32GB or heck, lets not mess around and just load up a 64GB card! At the end of the day, you retire to the warm and cozy confines of your room and fire up the laptop and sit back with one of those ‘smart-aleck grins’ across your face since you are quite certain that on this day you got something really special, and with such little effort!

If there be any doubt about exposures in these kinds of situations let there be no mistake about it: this is time for the Sunny 16 Rule! And what is ‘Sunny 16’? (It simply means that a correct exposure of a front-lit scene will be found at f/16 and at a shutter speed that equals your ISO, e.g. with 100 ISO the correct exposure is f/16 at a 1/100 second AND as long as it is 90 minutes after sunrise and 90 minutes before sunset.)

With my 70-300mm lens at f/16, and my shutter speed at a 1/100 second, I simply fired a number of frames as both shade and sun rolled across this particular landscape before me. Of the three images below, my preference is for image #3. I wish everyday of shooting was this easy!

All my best-
Bryan F Peterson
Founder of BPSOP

Bryan Teaches: Understanding Exposure, The Art of Seeing, Mastering Nikon Flash Photography

“I just wanted to thank you for another wonderful class. I have to confess that each week when I read the new assignment, my first reaction was mild panic and a deep certainty that I would not be able to produce anything worthwhile that fit within the parameters you had set. But before I knew it, the ideas started to flow, and I quickly became obsessed (no, that isn’t too strong a word!) with exploring the possibilities. I can honestly say that the photos I produced in response to your assignments are among my favorites. Thanks for bringing out a creative side I didn’t know I had!”

Barbara Geiger
Understanding Color

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Bill
After the click

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