Checking position of the sun

Hold glasses parallel to the ground to see the reflection of the sun.

Try this cool little trick next time you want to check the position of the sun in the sky. Your eyes will love you for it.

Have you ever been photographing someone on one of those sunny days with passing clouds that give you bright sunshine followed by cloud cover? These situations make it really difficult to shoot consistently, particularly if you are trying to shoot with cloud cover or specifically need sunshine for your shot.

The most obvious way to check where the position of the sun is to look directly into the sky. The downside of this is you are temporarily blinded and doing this can cause permanent damage. This is a cool little trick I picked up from a cinematographer years ago. Instead of looking at the sun he took off his sunglasses and held them in his hands parallel to the sky. The clouds and sun are reflected in the sunglasses and you can tell exactly where the sun is and estimate how long you will have shade or sunshine for.Test out next time you are outside on a shoot. Your eyes will thank you for it.