Shade – Why Taking Portraits in the Shade Can be Ideal Shade you’re taking portraits, and it’s time for your subjects’ “moment in the sun.” If you really want them to shine, let’s look at why taking portraits in the shade is the way to go. I can remember when the recommendation to photographers was to “always photograph your subject with the sun at your back, so the light is on their face.” I think I read that many years ago on an insert in a box of film. Perhaps the idea was not to wind up with a silhouette with the bright sky tricking the camera into an underexposed…