[Heidilyn]

Originally Posted by Hayward Taylor

Hi Heidilyn...here's a brief explanation of the "sunny 16" rule..it's geared mostly to film but you can apply it to digital if you're shooting in manual mode.. hope it's helpful...


In photography, the sunny 16 rule (or, less often, the "sunny f/16 rule") is a method to estimate correct daylight exposures without using a light meter.

The basic sunny 16 rule, applicable on a sunny day, is this:

Set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed (reciprocal seconds) to ISO film speed.
For example, for ISO 100 film, choose shutter speed of 1/100 second (or 1/125 second)

The elaborated form of the sunny 16 rule for more general situations is:

Set the shutter speed to the setting nearest to the ISO film speed
Set the f-number according to the table below:
Aperture Lighting Conditions Shadow Detail
f/16 Sunny Distinct
f/11 Slight Overcast Soft around edges
f/8 Overcast Barely visible
f/5.6 Heavy Overcast No shadows
f/4 Sunset
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Thanks for the info!!