Have You Found Your Ideal-Light Conditions?

[Atina]

In your professional work with naturally lit scenes or objects, have you found the times of day when your prefer to shoot and when you indeed took most of your photographs?

Is that time simply dawn / dusk / golden hour, or do you have a more precise definition, as in preferring for the Sun's elevation to have a certain value?

Do you also pay attention to weather, and have specific requests when it comes to when to shoot, as in the first day of clear weather after a cold front, or any such stuff?

[Tony Jay]

If you are looking for a formulaic approach here it does not exist.

It is true that the angle of light is important.
It is also true that the colour temperature is important.
Sometimes diffuse lighting is better and sometimes more directional lighting is better.

The ability to read the lighting conditions and recognize when it is good is much more important.
Subject matter is crucial as well since no one lighting situation is good for all subject matter.
The type of image you are looking to create is also important since it determines the optimal lighting.
If you are looking to take an image demonstrating the harshness of the desert you may well opt to shoot at midday when the contrast and dynamic range is high and the colours are as flat as can be, however, if you are wanting a desert image demonstrating its beauty with subtle shades of pastels then a low sun with some diffusion created by clouds would be ideal.

I think you are probably beginning to see that there are a lot of situations where the light could be ideal - depending on the type of imagery you want to shoot - where for another photographer the same lighting conditions might be anathema - again depending on their aesthetics.

Weather plays a big part in determining lighting conditions, at least as much as any other factor.
We have not yet even begun to talk about issues of front, back, or side-lighting and what might be ideal under those circumstances.

The best way to learn about natural light and how it pertains to photography is be there, out in the elemnets, shooting at all hours and in all weather conditions.
This is a skill that is better 'caught than taught' in the sense that observation and demonstration are far better than any theoretical approach.

Tony Jay

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

I recently shot in a cave which has a hole in the top where daylight comes in.
High noon is a good time there ....

[markadams99]

Flat light is underrated.

[luxborealis]

As Tony alluded to, there are a different approaches to lighting...

1. Often, photographers are "doing the best with what they've got" in that given a set of lighting conditions, we look for scenes and subjects that "work best" in those conditions and the odd time break the rules and come up with something totally unique.

2. At other times, perhaps when life isn't so phrenetic with other commitments, we might choose the time of day (hence lighting conditions) and weather conditions to work in, be it a misty early morning, a raging sunset, or whatever moves you.

The general "rule" is that nature and outdoor photographers prefer working in the Golden Hours because there are more opportunities for dynamically-lit subjects with pleasing characteristics, albeit the light is fleeting as the sun rises higher or sets. But this is all highly personal and is linked to the preferences and style of the individual.

The Golden Hours is a great starting point where the chance of success is generally higher, but you must also be adaptable to changing light and weather. That's where I have my greatest success - when the light is changing and the sky is changing you start to see things that are not as obvious in "predictable" light. After all, we are human and when we get into a routine we often stop "seeing".

In my early days of professional photography, my manager once said to me, in a rather sage-like way, "you're lucky if you get six days in a year of perfect conditions for photography, however you wish to define perfect". I thought "Only six days! You've got to be kidding!"

Every time I look back over my work from the year, his words come back to me. Most of my days are "sketching" and "exploring" days when I come back with photographs that are about 80 to 90% "there". The shots are great, even rewarding, but I realize the lighting and/or ambient conditions were not ideal for the subject. And about six days each year (sometimes fewer), the lighting, ambient conditions and elements come together in that perfect storm of "perfect" conditions. The killer is when you see those perfect conditions coming together and you have an commitment that can't be changed. That's when mental pictures will have to suffice.

As Tony said, the best thing to do it just get outside and experience the whole gambit of lighting conditions. Shoot what you like, keep and learn from what "works" for you. Most of all, just enjoy being out.

[Alan Klein]

Flat light (overcast) works best in the woods.  It eliminates the mottling effect you would get by shadows from leaves and tree trunks if the sun was out.  

If you're shooting close ups of flowers, the sun will also cause shadows that might deflect from the flower.  Low warm sun is good of course for shadows and giving depth to a picture.  

Also keep in mind that during the winter, especially at higher lattitudes, the sun is much lower in the sky than during the summer.  So you can get dramatic lighting conditions for more hours.

Just start shoooting at differeent times under different conditions.  You'll see pretty quickly which type of pictures you prefer, which works and those that don't.  Good luck.

[NancyP]

It depends. 
I separate my shots into "planning/sketching" shots and "great light now" shots.
I find the planning is often the most difficult part of the shot.
I would love to see an app like The Photographers' Ephemeris, mashed up with USGS topographic "quad" 7.5' maps.
I have not yet tried PhotoPill, another app with am ephemeris plus some additional calculators.
A decent compass is an excellent tool. A lousy small compass on my keychain is still a useful tool, if I don't have the big one.

[pluton]

For the jagged exposed bare rock of the desert landscapes near me, the best light is partially diffused sunlight.  Directional but softened.  As by high clouds.  Much more important than time of day.
Total, bald overcast and clear sunlight represent second-choice scenarios.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

As Terry said, most of my shooting is of the  "doing the best with what they've got" mode. Yes, generally I expect better results (most locations) early or late in the day, and I prefer overcast conditions, as Alan Klein mentions, for in the woods scenes.

But I have one location, Plum Island in Massachusetts (the Parker River National Wildlife refuge), where I tend to go frequently to photograph the patterns made by water interacting with sand, and where I have very specific conditions in mind. I like to shoot there
    1.   During December and January when the beaches have fewer people and fewer footprints,
    2.   When the tide will be low fairly late in the afternoon (about 4 pm or so),
    3.   When the forecast is for mostly sunny skies,
    4.   Preferably when there have been recent coastal storms to rearrange the sand on the beaches.
With these conditions I start photographing about two or three hours before low tide.

These conditions always provide new and interesting (to me) patterns as the water in random sandy tide pools makes its way back to the ocean, with low, Winter light bringing out texture in the sand.

I just had me second outing of 2014 to Plum Island yesterday. In a week or two I will probably post some of the new images on my website, and a post one or two on LuLa.

[Atina]

It depends.  
I separate my shots into "planning/sketching" shots and "great light now" shots.
I find the planning is often the most difficult part of the shot.
I would love to see an app like The Photographers' Ephemeris, mashed up with USGS topographic "quad" 7.5' maps.
I have not yet tried PhotoPill, another app with am ephemeris plus some additional calculators.
A decent compass is an excellent tool. A lousy small compass on my keychain is still a useful tool, if I don't have the big one.

Why precisely the 7.5ʹ maps? I'm intrigued. What property do they have that you desire them to be implemented into The Photographer's Ephemeris?

[Alan Klein]

7.5 quad maps have more topographic detail regarding elevations and other details that the larger topo maps do not have.   It's like zooming in on your car navigation maps where you can actually see the names of all the streets.   

[NancyP]

7.5 quad maps are the standard fine-detail maps with major topo lines at 100 ft and minor topo lines at 20 feet in my locality (Ozarks). Most of the local trail maps are superimposed on topo maps copied from the 7.5 quads. It is relatively easy to navigate and easy to annotate 7.5 quad maps - geological structure X, say, a slot canyon. It would be nice to be able to predict from the river/creek/slot wall direction when (dates) sun or moon will reach the slot canyon at a particular time. This is easily done on city streets with TPE - every once in a while I look for full moon rise over the downtown, from various mid-town parking garage tops. When will the sun rise straight down miles along a particular city street - easy. (Urban "henges" - think of Manhattan as one giant slot canyon complex)

[Alan Klein]

Nancy:  Just a suggestion that might work for you.  Find and select the coordinates for the exact slot canyon from an electronic 7.5 quad map such as from National Geographic.  Then paste those coordinates in the TPE program.

What's also nice about the Nat Geo maps is that you can "fly" around the area and actually see quad map on your monitor.  Then you can lay out waypoints where you want to go and download them into your handheld and some car type GPS's like the Garmin Nuvi.  Then you can navigate right to the spots.  NatGeo also has a deal with a trail map guide company that might have additional info you can use.  Check the NatGeo site.  watch the video http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/downloads/State_demo.htm

[bretedge]

I can't say that I have a "favorite" or "ideal" type of light as it varies from location to location and subject to subject.  Obviously, the warm light of sunrise and sunset is quite lovely - most of the time.  But, I also enjoy dappled light on a cloudy day for black and white work and storm light is rather dramatic in grand scenics.  If it's overcast I start looking for intimate landscapes or maybe even macro and I love working on both.  Honestly, I enjoy and use all types of light.  I believe one of the things that makes a great photographer is being able to work in any type of light while consistently producing marketable work.

 

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

Ideal lighting conditions - what a huge subject..?

I used to try and plan when to be out with my camera, in what I thought would be the best lighting conditions, still do for dawn shots, but mother nature and the elements seem to have an amazing knack of doing exactly the opposite of what I want them to do. I have found that whatever the forecasts are telling me, or whatever it seems to be doing outside my window, that by the time I get to the place I have chosen to go to, the conditions have changed entirely. Yet I have also found the opposite to be true, setting off in bad light conditions (too bright, too dark, horizontal rain etc) when it would have been so much easier for me to continue practicing my well honed sofa flattening skills, has meant that I have arrived somewhere, just as the conditions are perfect.

So my advice is to just go out as often as you can and in whatever the lighting and weather conditions are, to see what you can capture by using those conditions to your advantage. Flat light, then look for flat light subjects, dramatic light, then look for dramatic light subjects and so on. Takes a bit of doing to go out without a preconceived shot in mind and perhaps only a vague idea of a direction to head towards, but it does work. Ideal lighting and especially dramatic lighting, are usually very fleeting things indeed that cannot easily be forecast or planned for, you just have to be there for what might only be a few seconds of perfect light, just as it is happening.

We like to think we can plan things and apply rules etc., to help us get that perfect shot, but you will find in landscape and nature photography, that nature doesn't play by anyone’s rules and in fact seems to enjoy laughing in the face of even the most diligent planning.

Dave

[churly]

Dave - That's some of the best advice I've read on the forum in a long time.

[LesPalenik]

December light at 3pm in Key West beats the lighting conditions at 11pm in June in Fairbanks.
And their mosquitos are much smaller.