Every Tuesday I bring you a tidbit of information meant to enhance your photography skills or your appreciation of photography. This week’s tidbit can be used by anyone who knows how to aim and click a camera: the best time of day to take photos.
Light is everything: As any photographer worth her salt will tell you, light is everything when it comes to photography. Quite literally, no light=no photo; artistically speaking, light has the ability to make or break a photo. There are a gazillion and a half conversations we could have about light–it’s properties, the color of light at different times of the day and with different lights sources, the intensity of light, etc. For today’s post, I’m talking about using the sun as your main light source (as opposed to flash or ambient lights from light bulbs).
We can’t move the sun: Obviously the sun is pretty gigantore and we don’t have the option of moving it around willy-nilly. So when you use the sun as your main lightsource, timing is everything, especially in terms of the shadows the sun creates.
Example of subjects lit by full noon sun
High Noon: In the image above, taken around 12:30pm, you have two beautiful people looking all gorgeous and stuff….but the sun is creating not so flattering shadows on their faces, particularily around their eyes. Noon sun is notorious for creating that “raccoon effect” around eyes and most photographers try really really hard to avoid it. Additionally, the high noon sun creates harsh shadows around the rest of the face and makes everyone squint….just not very pretty.
Example of image taken as the sun sets
Sunset: Now we’re talking. The image above was taken as the sun was setting over the Golden Gate Bridge. Notice the warm glow, the fact that neither subject is squinting at all and the classic nose shadow on Alia. I’ll get more in depth on this at another time (note to self), but suffice it to say for now that Alia is being lit (by the sun) with “broad lighting”, a classic lighting set up in portraiture, characterized by the triangle of shadow extending slightly past her nose. See how more flattering this is? No crazy shadows, no squinting. It also gives you opportunity to create some drama, since harsh shadows can and do still exist–just in the way you want them to.
Open Shade: So what’s a girl to do if she’s got a picture to take and can’t wait 6 hours for the sun to set? More often than not, she finds “open shade”. Open shade is basically any outdoor area that is shaded from the direct sun, therefore lit by reflected light. Could be in the shade of a tree (watch out for the dappling created by the leaves), in the shadow of a large building, anything. It could even result from the sun being diffused by a thick cloud cover. Check out the great diagram by Thomas Even to show how it works (below).
Created by Thomas Even
Subjects lit in open-shade most often result in nice soft shadows and give a softer feel to your image. Check out the image below, taken at about 1:30pm but in open shade.
Example of image taken in open shade
Happy shooting from Vantage!
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