Portraits in the Mid Day Sun on a Very Bright and Cloudless Afternoon

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Today was all about experimentation!  My husband was giving me a bad time about only taking pictures during sunset and to maybe try something new.  He was so right!  So, I did some quick research online to see what I could find about shooting in the mid day harsh sun.  Today was crazy bright...not a cloud in the sky and these pictures were taken at 1pm.  To top it off, my youngest is one of those children who can not look at a camera without jacking her face all up...just like her mother! :)

Here is what I can recall from my Internet search today...and there will be more to come as I learn more.

1. Fill Flash is very useful during the day to help with those harsh shadows on the face
2. Using reflectors either white, gold, or silver.  I actually took a car seat box that was in our garage and tore it up into sections.  One section I sprayed gold, the other white, and the last silver.  Cheap and fast!
3. Embrace the harsh shadows, look for interesting lines or details that would not be present any other time of the day
4. Have the subject look up so their face is being evenly hit with that direct bright light
5. Underexpose your images to help with blown highlights
6. Use an umbrella to create shade, it was suggested to use a white one
7. Find shade and position your subject near the shade edge to get nice light, and those beautiful catch lights
8. Fancy flash equipment...I don't have any, so I just skimmed through any info on that subject
9. I personally love my subjects to be back lit, like this picture or side lit.  I took a couple of shots with her facing the sun and they were AWFUL...very flat or totally blown, due to the fact I didn't underexpose.
10. Practice and keep reading all the literature I can find on the subject

Did I do any of these things with this particular picture?  Nope, just exposed for her skin and tried to hide the sun a tad by her head.  I like sunburst like this, so I wanted a little sun peaking out.  I suppose if I had a perfect scenario and many arms, I would of held my gold reflector under her face to bring a little more light onto her face, but I am very pleased with the results today.  In photoshop I bumped up the blacks a bunch since this image was so filled with lots of light and warmed the white balance, the shot was too blue for my taste.  I think I read somewhere that mid day sunlight was blue...

More pictures to come and more experimentation is on the way!  Thanks for taking a look! :)