While we all love the soft light and warm tones of golden hour, it's not always possibly to schedule all of our photography for that timeframe, especially if you do photography at horse shows or other all-day events.
Exposing for full sun can be a challenge, because you are dealing with a LOT of light, but there are a few ways to make sure you get a great exposure that will give you a full range of color and dynamic range from shadow to highlight to work with.
The biggest mistake I see photographers make in full sun is they “blow out” their highlights (white areas) so there is no detail left, so the key to a good exposure in full sun is to slightly underexpose your image.
If you are shooting in manual, this means you set your ISO, Aperture and Shutter so that your camera meters to the left of center. If you are shooting in another mode like aperture or shutter priority, you want to use Exposure Compensation and dial it down a few clicks.
The quickest way to know if you are preserving highlights with your exposure is to turn your camera's highlight warning on. This is different for every camera body, but it's a setting or mode where, when you review the image on the back of the camera, the overexposed areas blink.
The caveat is that sometimes you will have blinkies even with a proper exposure, like if you are shooting back lit and the sky is in your photo. So I'm mainly looking for skin, markings, and tack to be blinkie-free.
The bonus for exposing this way is that your image will naturally retain more color and contrast. And if your back is to the sun, you can capture some deliciously blue skies!
