How to Photograph Sunbeams
Capturing the liquid feel of a slanting ray of sunlight is a tricky task for even experienced photographers to handle. Rays of light are at their most visible when they have a surface to bounce off of, such as dust, pollen or mist. When these are unavailable, isolating the light against a dark surface, such as a beam of light presented against a dark forest canopy, works well. Photographing sunbeams requires specific camera settings and an eye for careful evaluation of the quality of light.
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Instructions
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Choose a shoot time in the early morning or late evening. The sun's rays are most dramatic at these hours. High-contrast midday light is difficult to capture. In the early morning and evening hours, mist or other particles in the air will reflect sunlight more clearly, creating a better defined sunbeam in the image.
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Choose a high-contrast location where the sunlight is cascading onto a darker background, such as through a canopy of leafy trees or through a window into a darkened room. The contrast of the dark background will clearly delineate the sunbeam.
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Compose your image in such a way that the sun is not a direct part of the composition. Position yourself so the sun is behind an object such as a tree or other large, solid area. This keeps direct sunlight from overpowering individual rays of light.
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Meter the image and select camera settings based on your meter reading. These settings will vary based on your chosen backdrop and setting. A high-contrast situation, such as sunlight on a dark background, may "fool" your meter, so selecting settings that are slightly lower than recommended by your light meter may improve your chance of success. Do not use your flash. Select a narrow aperture setting to maximize the depth of field and use a longer shutter speed to compensate for the smaller quantity of light.
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Tips & Warnings
Take multiple photographs of the scene, bracketing the exposure by changing the aperture incrementally, plus or minus one f-stop, with each shot.
