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Liana © John Beebe

  
For most of the day direct sunlight creates harsh shadows, squints and blown out highlights.  During these times of day look for shade.  It can be a doorframe, trees, tall building, or, as in the case of this photograph of Liana, a covered slide.  Notice how the light gently falls off from the right side of her face to her left.  This creates a sense of depth without harsh shadows.
 
When shooting into the shade, it is best to have your back to the brightest area and have your subject in front of darker shadow.  For example, don’t photograph someone sitting on a covered picnic table with a bright sun washed background.  If you look closely at the picture of Liana you can see tell I had the bright blue sky behind me because the sky is reflected in her eyes.

  

Allie © John Beebe

 
Another good example of this can be seen in photograph of Allie blowing bubbles.  The shade has created a very soft light but it is still possible to notice the direction of the light by looking at the shadows under his chin and behind his wrist.  In addition, the foliage behind Allie is in deeper shadow.  This draws attention to Allie and creates a very clean separation between Allie and the background.
 
So grab your camera, find some shade, look for clean backgrounds and start shooting.  Enjoy!
 
Technical Details:
 
Liana
Camera:  Nikon D70
Lens:  Nikon 50 1.4 
Aperture: f2.8
Speed:  1/160
ISO:  200
Focal length: 50mm (75 35mm equivalent)
 
Allie
 
Camera:  Nikon D70
Lens:  Nikon 50 1.4 
Aperture: f2.2
Speed:  1/100
ISO:  200
Focal length: 50mm  (75 35mm equivalent)