Mastering Light
I was thinking of doing a tutorial on the best time to shoot during the day, but why not get the best out of every moment of the day? Most people will tell you the best time to shoot is golden hour. And although golden hour is incredibly beautiful, it isn’t your only option to create incredible photographs. The key is to understand what settings and tools work good for certain times of the day and weather condition. In this blog we analyze the different times to shoot and how you can take advantage of each light quality.
Morning
The morning is an incredible time for photography, but also a difficult one. Have you tried getting out of bed at 4am in the morning to be on location for sunrise? Sometimes you have no idea what the weather is going to be like, but it is definitely worth the early wake up since the light during sunrise is one of the best lights to shoot at.
Not only do mornings allow for great photography opportunities, sunrises are so incredibly peaceful and serene. The sound of the birds and a soft breeze through the trees is everything you hear. The chances of you having a location just for yourself are greater, as most people are still asleep. The weather conditions are often calm. And sunlight has a soft, reddish and pink color, allowing for beautiful vivid images.
During sunrise when the sky is the most colorful, try using a tripod. You are able to see all the details around you, but your camera might have trouble. Using a longer exposure makes you avoid having to increase your ISO. Not only do you get higher quality images with less noise, but you also create movement in your image if there is any in your scene.
Golden Hour
Waking up early definitely pays off because right after sunrise, golden hour starts. You have the whole day to take pictures, and then you have another opportunity for golden hour right before the sunset.
The moment when you are in a picturesque environment and the sun hangs just above the horizon, creating long shadows and a beautiful golden glow is just breathtaking. But even though it is beautiful to witness in person, it is a fairly difficult time of day to shoot in.
Shooting with front-lighting means the sun illuminates your subject from the front. During golden hour this creates flattering soft shadows and warm light.
When shooting with the sun in the background, the light contrast is increasingly high. This means blown-out backgrounds or black foregrounds. Dealing with this often requires some post-processing in Lightroom. But to get the best out of your camera, I’d like to suggest two things:
- To create flares of sunlight, shoot with an open aperture (F1.4 – F4). During the golden hour this is very visually appealing and creates depth to your image.
- Try shooting as bright as possible, but not so bright that the whole background is white. It is easier to get details back in the darker areas of your image than the lighter areas. But the darker your image the more noise you get when increasing the brightness.
Bright Daylight
Sunny days, nice to be outside, but horrible to take pictures in. Portraits during noon are the worst, horrible harsh shadows under the eyes, I rather have rain. Although this is true in a sense, it is also a bit dramatic and a waste of opportunities. Photography during the middle of the day can definitely be difficult and if done wrong turn out pretty bad. Using the proper tools helps to create great images even during this time of day.
I used to avoid photographing on sunny days, and as a landscape photographer I still generally would. But as a portrait photographer it definitely does not have to be a problem. First of all, it can be a style decision often used in fashion or street photography. Using different elements such as fences or trees allow for some creative shadow play.
But if you really don’t want those harsh shadows, you can do at least two things:
- Fill in the shadows on your subject with a reflector or flashlight.
- Diffuse the sunlight with a diffuser. Another way to diffuse light is by shooting during a cloudy day, which acts as a natural diffuser.
Night
Night photography is one of my favorite types of photography. At this time of day taking images can be challenging but creatively very rewarding.
Using the artificial lights in cities for shooting portraits can create some real neon vibes. If you want to do this type of portrait photography, you definitely need a wide aperture lens such as the 50mm F1.8.
Long exposure photography
In the night you almost always need to shoot with a longer shutter speed to get enough light. This isn’t really a drawback of night photography as this actually creates spectacular images.
Light painting is something I really enjoy doing. I never went to serious into it, but I have seen people creating the most beautiful and creative images with light painting. To do this you need a tripod and any illuminating object, expose your image for about 30 seconds and start drawing.
To create images of the night sky, you have to think of two major things. First, use a lens with at least a minimum aperture of F2.8, and focus on a star. Don’t try to focus to infinity as this will create blurry images. Second, expose your image for less than 30 seconds, or more than an hour. Why? Because the movement of the earth relative to the stars will be visible in your image after 30 seconds. If you shoot longer than an hour this produces long star trails in the sky. If you shoot for durations such as an hour, you will definitely over-expose your image. That’s why you might want to look for an ND Filter when interested.
Hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial! If you have any questions write them down in the comments below, we will be getting back to you as soon as possible! More blog tutorials coming up every week, you can also check them out on our Instagram Stories @yololetstraveltheworld!
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