Harsh Light

A few days ago some friends over at Burn were talking about the difficulty of shooting in "bad" light. That is... sunny, midday. While it is usually ideal to wait for "good" light that is represented in the morning or evening, often you have no choice but midday light. What then? Ask one hundred photographers that question and you'll likely get one hundred different answers. But this is how I generally deal with harsh afternoon light.

These were shot around the house about 1PM.

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.

My Accountant...Yet Again!

A couple more from the ongoing series:

Atmosphere.

Don't forget to take advantage of weather. Pay attention to the forecasts. Is there a chance of fog in the morning? Get up early and and shoot like crazy! Big storm acomin'? Find a vantage point that will really accentuate the ominous clouds rolling in.

When you go on vacation check the weather beforehand. Don't simply shoot on beautiful, perfect sunny days. Crappy weather can produce wonderfully dramatic images.

Be prepared for anything and take advantage of the unexpected. For the photo above, I was in a new place, didn't know what the weather would be, no idea what to expect, but got up early anyway. Glad I did!

A little atmosphere goes a long way.

Shadow and Silhouette

Take advantage of shadows. They add drama to the photo, depth. I was at the Lincoln Memorial and saw how the shadows were being thrown against the walls by these massive Roman columns. So I walked around a bit until I found a spot where I thought could make a nice photograph.

As I was setting up for the shot I heard the footsteps of somebody coming around the corner. So I just waited...when this stranger steps into the picture it turns an otherwise nice, kind of abstract photo into a dramatic scene with a human element.

Shadows and silhouettes... gotta love 'em!

Silhouettes

A good way to spice up your photo slide show is to be sure there are one or two decent silhouettes included. Most people are not expecting them. They're expecting "the usual." It's your job--should you want your audience to remain interested--to occasionally provide the unusual. All you need for a good silhouette is backlight. Well, there's a little more to it than that, but backlight is essential. Everything you ever heard about keeping the light behind you--or just over your shoulder--forget it. In this case you want the light in front of you. Maybe off to the side just a bit, but basically in front of you and behind your subject. For those of you with more advanced cameras try metering the sky (not including the sun!) then shoot away. For the more point and shoot types the camera's light meter will most likely be able to read the scene properly and give you what you want. In other words simply make sure the sun is behind your subject then just point and shoot! Oh! It is also important to have a clean background so that your subject stands out. A cluttered background will just obscure everything. Try getting down low so the subject is against a clear blue sky or as in the case below get up high and use the reflection off water as background. Whatever the case, adding a silhouette or two to your vacation photos will help enrich the viewing experience.