{"id":39085,"date":"2026-02-18T01:21:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T06:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/?p=39085"},"modified":"2026-02-26T17:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T22:11:11","slug":"the-sunny-f16-rule-basic-daylight-exposure-bde-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/?p=39085","title":{"rendered":"The Sunny f16 Rule: Basic Daylight Exposure (BDE)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red<\/a><\/p>\n

A Quick \u201cSunny f16\u201d Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the Sunny f16 rule applies, you don’t need a camera meter to get the right exposure. As long as the sun is high in the sky and is not being obscured by clouds, haze, smoke, dust, or other particulates in the air, it is a constant light source. That is why the Sunny f16 rule works in spring, summer, fall, and also winter as long as there isn’t any snow on the ground. (If there is snow on the ground, read this article<\/a>.) The Sunny f16 rule is also known as Basic Daylight Exposure (BDE) and the \u201cfig\u201d rule because f16 hand written looks like the word fig.\u00a0 It is pretty simple.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Sunny f16 Rule works like this. For front-lit subjects, set the lens aperture to f16 and use a shutter speed equivalent to 1 over the ISO you are using (1\/ISO). For example: If the camera ISO is set to 100, the Sunny f16 exposure is f\/16 at 1\/100 second. If the camera ISO is set to 400, the Sunny f16 exposure is f\/16 at 1\/400 second. As long as the subject is front-lit and not really light in tone (like white sand, white animals, and snow), or really dark in tone (like a gorilla), the Sunny f16 rule works just fine, no metering necessary.<\/p>\n

Early and Late in the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sunny f16 rule does not apply when the sun is close to the horizon. The sunlight is coming through a lot more of earth’s atmosphere which decreases the intensity of the light. The Sunny f16 rule usually works well from two hours after sunrise to 2 hours before sunset. Days with a lot of atmospheric haze are also a problem.<\/p>\n

Equivalent Exposures<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can also use “equivalent exposures”.\u00a0 Those are different combinations of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed that give you the same exact exposure as the Sunny f16 rule.\u00a0 To do that you need to understand “stops”. If you don’t, or need a refresher, drop down and read “Thinking in Stops” later in this article.\u00a0 Then come back here. For now, look a these two photos of a lens. You can see the aperture blades and the opening in the middle that lets in the light.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Manual 50mm lens with the aperture set at f\/11.<\/p><\/div>\n

As you can see from the photos above and below, at f\/11 a lens lets in a lot less light, and at f\/2 a lens lets in a lot more light.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Manual 50mm lens with the aperture set at f\/2.<\/p><\/div>\n

All of the exposure combinations on the list below will give you the same exposure as the sunny f16 rule. Each time the aperture increases the light by one stop (gets bigger), the shutter speed decreases the light by one stop (gets shorter in time), so the amount of light that hits the sensor or film remains the same.<\/p>\n

ISO 100,\u00a0 f\/16, 1\/100 sec.
\nISO 100,\u00a0 f\/11, 1\/200 sec.
\nISO 100,\u00a0 f\/8,\u00a0 1\/400 sec,
\nISO 100,\u00a0 f\/5.6,\u00a0 1\/800 sec.
\nISO 100,\u00a0 f\/4,\u00a0 1\/1600 sec.
\nISO 100,\u00a0 f\/2.8, 1\/3200 sec.
\nISO 100,\u00a0 f\/2,\u00a0\u00a0 1\/6400 sec.<\/p>\n

This leads to my water bucket theory of exposure. Assume your goal is to fill a bucket with water. If you use a water hose with a bigger diameter (bigger aperture), it takes less time (faster shutter speed) to fill the bucket with water.\u00a0 It is the same with apertures and shutter speeds. A big aperture lets in more light so the light bucket in your camera (the sensor\/film) fills up with light quicker.<\/p>\n

If all of these equivalent exposures are the same as the sunny f16 rule (BDE), which do you choose? That depends on your subject. If you are doing a landscape and you need a lot of near to far depth of field, choose ISO 100,\u00a0 f\/16, 1\/100 second. That is because an aperture of f\/16 gives you more depth of field<\/a>. If you are photographing a track meet and you want to freeze the runners, choose ISO 100,\u00a0 f\/5.6,\u00a0 1\/800 second for the faster shutter speed.<\/p>\n

Exposure Compensation for the Sunny f16 Rule
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Gorilla<\/p><\/div>\n

There are four exceptions for the Sunny f16 Rule. If your subject is side-lit, back-lit, really dark in tone, or really light in tone, you will need to do some exposure compensation. For side-lit subjects add about 1\/2 to one stop of light. For backlit subjects add about one to two stops of light.\u00a0 For really dark subjects (like a gorilla) add about one stop of light or your subject will look too dark. For really light and white subjects (like a snowy owl), subtract about one stop of light or your white subject will wash out.<\/p>\n

\"Snowy<\/a>

Snowy Owl<\/p><\/div>\n

Why Use The Sunny f\/16 Rule?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

On Sunny days it is a highly accurate. Take the mountains and lake scene at the top of this article.\u00a0 There are a lot of different tonalities in this scene, some of them light, many of them dark. If you meter the whole scene, all the dark tones will throw off your camera meter and your exposure will be too light. The snow, sky, and mountains will be too light. You could spot meter one specific tone in the scene and use exposure compensation, but that takes some time and decision making.\u00a0 Fortunately, the whole scene is lit by the sun, so BDE (the Sunny f16 rule) will give you the perfect exposure, no metering required.<\/p>\n

The Sunny f16 Rule will also save you on sunny days if your camera meter dies. That happened to me on the trip of a lifetime to Haiti, and I was using slide film.\u00a0 I used BDE all week long during the long, sun shiny days.\u00a0 At night I used the exposure guide on the inside of a Kodak film box.<\/p>\n

Thinking in Stops<\/strong><\/p>\n

To deal with exposure, you need to be able to think in stops.<\/p>\n

Photographically speaking one stop means either twice as much light, or half as much light. Stops apply to ISO speeds, apertures, and shutter speeds.<\/p>\n

Some typical ISO speeds<\/b> in one stop increments (slowest to fastest):\u00a0 100\u00a0 200\u00a0 400\u00a0 800 1600 3200
\n<\/b>
\nISO 200 is one stop faster than ISO 100 speed film. So at ISO 200 you can use a shutter speed that is one stop faster than if you were using ISO 100.<\/p>\n

Cameras and lenses control the amount of light that reaches the digital sensor with shutter speeds and lens apertures. Longer shutter speeds mean more light. Wider lens apertures mean more light<\/p>\n

Apertures<\/b> in one stop increments from widest (most light) to smallest (least light):<\/span><\/p>\n

f\/1.4\u00a0 f\/2.0\u00a0 f\/2.8\u00a0 f\/4.0\u00a0 f\/5.6\u00a0 f\/8.0\u00a0 f\/11 \u00a0 f\/16\u00a0 f\/22<\/b><\/p>\n

Most lenses can be set in 1\/2 or 1\/3 stop increments in between the full stop settings.<\/p>\n

Shutter speeds<\/b> in one stop increments from fastest (least light) to slowest (most light):<\/p>\n

1\/1000 \u00a0 1\/500 \u00a0 1\/250 \u00a0 1\/125 \u00a0 1\/60\u00a0 1\/30 \u00a0 1\/15\u00a0 1\/8\u00a0 \u00bc\u00a0 \u00bd\u00a0 1 sec\u00a0 2 sec\u00a0 4 sec \u00a0 8 sec 16 sec.
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

Most cameras can set shutter speeds in 1\/2 or 1\/3 stop increments in between the full stop settings.<\/p>\n

Originally posted February 26, 2024. Re-posted February 18, 2026 and revised February 26, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

Links<\/strong><\/p>\n

More details on all the ins and out of the Sunny f16 rule are covered in my book Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The Sunny f16 Rule Isn’t Reliable in Winter<\/a><\/p>\n

The Depth of Field Series<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Quick \u201cSunny f16\u201d Summary When the Sunny f16 rule applies, you don’t need a camera meter to get the right exposure. As long as the sun is high in the sky and is not being obscured by clouds, haze, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-metering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39085"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39135,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39085\/revisions\/39135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}