Shooting into the sun

[jacobovs]

I want to take some shots like the link below. How does one shoot this without losing the subject into a complete silhouette?

http://www.flysurfer.com/Gallery/v/p...rder.jpg.html?

http://www.flysurfer.com/Gallery/v/p...order.jpg.html

[fidgety]

Use Manual mode and spot meter on the subject.

[jacobovs]

Use Manual mode and spot meter on the subject.

The sky does not seem blownout in the shots. Wouldn't spot metering blow out the sky?

[fidgety]

The sky does not seem blownout in the shots. Wouldn't spot metering blow out the sky?

The sky looks a nice shade of blue on the left so maybe the shooter used a circular polarizer or did some post procerssing to get it that way. Also try metering on the subject then the sky and take an average of the two and use that as a starting point. In the posted images it looks like the person is a slightly underexposed so maybe the shooter averaged slighting in favor of the sky to keep it from blowing out.
I use a Canon 1D Mark IIN which has a FEL button and allows me to spot meter on up to eight different subjects and then average out the exposure so if you camera has those capabilities you may want to try that.
Shooting into the bright sun isn't easy for anyone so try practicing and after doing it enough times you'll start to get a better feel of how to meter to get the exposure you want. Just be care not to look through the viewfinder if metering on the sky. You don't want to fry your eyeballs.

[jacobovs]

The sky looks a nice shade of blue on the left so maybe the shooter used a circular polarizer or did some post procerssing to get it that way. Also try metering on the subject then the sky and take an average of the two and use that as a starting point. In the posted images it looks like the person is a slightly underexposed so maybe the shooter averaged slighting in favor of the sky to keep it from blowing out.
I use a Canon 1D Mark IIN which has a FEL button and allows me to spot meter on up to eight different subjects and then average out the exposure so if you camera has those capabilities you may want to try that.
Shooting into the bright sun isn't easy for anyone so try practicing and after doing it enough times you'll start to get a better feel of how to meter to get the exposure you want. Just be care not to look through the viewfinder if metering on the sky. You don't want to fry your eyeballs.

Thanks I really appreciate the advice.

Shal