The best times to shoot a picture under the sun would be between 7:00 to 10:00 AM and between 4:00 and 5:00PM.  But even the afternoon sun would give a reddish tinge as the sun’s rays get filtered out leaving the long end of the spectrum.

The worst time would have to be from 11:00AM to 2:00PM when the sun is at it’s zenith.  The light would be too bright (harsh as some would call it) and streaming from the wrong angle, straight down.  This would leave the face highlighted in sharp stark shadows.

The best solution when forced to take pictures while the sun is high would be take pictures in the shade, or partial shade and lying down, with the camera above the subject.  But seriously, there are ways to do this.

Without any props, the best way to do this would be to set the aperture one or two stops down, to underexpose the shot, use the flash and to shoot the subject with the camera held upside down.  This is specially true if the shot was a portrait.  The reasons behind this are simple enough to understand once you get past the shooting with an upside down camera stage.

Since it’s too bright, setting the aperture a step or two down, will result in a darker (or toned down) picture.  (The reverse is normally done if the background is much brighter than the foreground or subject.) Otherwise, there would be no details captured of the subject.  To offset this, using the flash will illuminate the subject.  And while using the camera upside down, the flash unit would be below the lens, resulting in highlighting the dark areas from the harsh sunlight streaming from directly overhead.

Alternatively, if there was a choice of position, shooting from above the subject and the subject looking up. there’s no need for a flash.  But it would still be a good idea to underexpose a bit.  This is a judgment call depending on what the ground is, if it was sand or snow, set the aperture one or even two steps down.

A word of warning is needed at this point.  If you have a digital camera, check the white balance setting.  And while you’re at it, don’t use the automatic mode for balance setting.

With some camera accessories (like reflectors and filters) the job gets easier.  There’s no need to use a fancy reflector, just a screen you can use to reflect sunlight so that instead of streaming harshly from above, the light gets reflected from the sides.  This could be a white board or a board wrapped with aluminum foil.

The aperture would still have to be a step or two down, because there’s really too much light on the subject and some details would be lost.  You’ll have to try for a softer shot, preferably with a neutral or gray filter.

And if you’re working with a polarizer, it would be a good idea to shoot the subject at an upward angle, in profile, with the sky and clouds as background.  The picture would have to be shot with flash, still with the camera upside down.