Ideas
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY Dial Up the Drama
Photographing summer in the city? Here’s how underexposure can boost shadows
The hot summer months are an ideal time to explore street photography. The atmosphere in our cities varies depending on the temperature and time of day, flitting between restless energy and breathless lethargy. But the harsh summer sun has as much of a striking effect on the quality of light as it does on your subjects. It can be a challenge to handle contrast in flat sunlight, with detail vanishing into your photos’ highlights or shadows. However, the harshness of the shadows in these conditions offers unique imaging opportunities.
Many X Series cameras feature a tactile exposure compensation dial on the top-plate. You can easily explore the effect of reducing your exposure value by turning this dial to a negative value. The brighter portions of your frame will become correctly exposed, while shadowy areas fall away into total darkness. This can boost the drama of your compositions, with human subjects transforming into sharp silhouettes and streaks of overexposed light becoming splashes of rich colour. Even without deep shadows, underexposing slightly in the hard sun can retain the saturation of colourful elements. Bright light washes out colour, so keep your exposure compensation dial in mind when working in natural light to add richness to subjects or accentuate the contrast of your scene.
Lightweight Street Cameras
Classic Controls
FUJIFILM X-T30 III
FUJIFILM X-T50
Rangefinder
FUJIFILM X-E5
FUJIFILM X100VI
06 FUJIFILM Focus Magazine
July/August 2026
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