Quality of Light.

Good light is essential for good photography. Early morning, late evening, overcast with dramatic clouds, and of course a judicious use of flash.  Whenever possible avoid sunny, midday photography. Harsh light from directly overhead makes for pretty crappy images.

There are times of course when you have no choice but to shoot at or around noon. In those cases, go for it. Make the best of it. But when the sun starts sinking low get back out there. Even the weakest of compositions will benefit from better quality light.

Below are a few shots from a recent trip to that big peninsula at the southeast corner of the United States.

Up first, a shot at 5 in the evening with storm clouds in the distance. A lone fisherman wading into the deep in search of his quarry gives us a sense of scale.

Image two was taken around 7:30 PM while the sun briefly peeked through the clouds, casting long shadows and a warm glow on two beachcombers.

The next shot was taken about ten minutes later, the sun had gone back behind the clouds and I had an assistant hold a flash, camera left, pointed directly at the dude in the chair. Nice clouds, good background.

Last photo: 7AM, hazy sky, orange sun, silhouettes... 

Quality light is the key to quality photography.  Get out early, stay out late and shoot like mad!

Cheers.