What to do about ugly lighting

When you're traveling, you don't always have the luxury of planning every minute around your photography goals. Often we are with other travelers, who may or may not want to get up at 4:30 in the morning to make sure we are at the Eiffel Tower at sunrise. OR we may even be traveling with a group, and the whole schedule is planned out ahead of time. So we might just get to the Eiffel Tower at noon. The worst time of day for photographs. So they say…

According to 'photographers', there are 2 ideal times to make photos when considering the light. The first is at sunrise and for the next hour. The second is the hour before sunset. Of course then there is the blue hour (yes that's a thing) which starts at sunset and lasts for the next hour. This is the time the whole sky turns a brilliant blue. Which I really didn't believe was a thing when I first heard about it. I mean wouldn't I know? I've been on the planet long enough to have seen sunsets…surely if the whole sky turned blue I would know! Well, I must have missed it, because it really is a thing.

Annecy, France during the ‘blue hour’

Now there's another wee little tidbit of information you should know about these "golden hours". The light is beautiful as far as color and doesn't cast unwanted shadows. BUT it's also not incredibly bright, meaning you will likely need a tripod during those times. With low light, it's really hard to hold your camera still enough to get a focused shot. Why? Because the shutter speed has to be kind of slow (really slow sometimes) to allow enough light in. When the shutter speed is slow, it's really important that you hold your camera completely still so the focus is sharp. 

THAT means to shoot during the coveted golden hours you need to a) get up really early or shoot during dinner time, and 2) carry a tripod to set up while shooting. Now both of these can be done, and once you get the hang of it, done without much fuss. But I'll admit, there were times when I wanted to do an evening photo shoot, but the thought of dinner and a glass of wine won out.

So what do we do when we're in the brightest, contrasty light and we STILL want amazing photos? It's all about being flexible and adapting. There are a lot of ways you can adjust to the bright light and even use it to your advantage.

Taking a step to one side or another, getting higher or squatting lower, can often result in shadows hitting differently or missing all together. If the sun is high in the sky, you can use your subject to block the sun and often end up with some brilliant backlight…which can be gorgeous! Like the sunburst effect? (when the sun looks like a star rather than just a glowing ball) Then set your aperture to at least f-16 or even f-22. Then the sun becomes a design component rather than distraction.

Bordeaux, France smack dab in the middle of the day

Shadows can also be used as components in your photograph. They can create interesting designs, that add to the "we are in the desert with hot sun" story. They can also be used to block out the bright sun if it's too distracting. Again, moving around a bit can result in the shadow laying nicely across your subject so you can capture some of the detail there.

Something to remember when there is bright sun and shadows in the same photo, is to slightly underexpose your shot. Which means you will want it to look a little darker than you normally would. This way, you preserve the details in the really bright parts, and can pull details out of the shadows later while editing. If this is confusing, just file it away…we'll make more sense of it later.

And if it's a landscape with no option to "block the sun"? Just embrace the brilliant light and blue sky and get your shot. Remember, we don't work for National Geographic here, we're telling our story.

The other great option for photographing in the middle of the day? Those lovely little villages and markets. Or even downtown in New York City for that matter. When we have buildings to block out the sun, then we really can get some fantastic details of the architecture, of people, of the street art…whatever strikes your fancy. Remember, just move your feet and walk around your scene/subject to find the best angle for light and the most fabulous shadows. Funny how we forget to move our feet when taking photos…isn't it?

Taos Pueblo, New Mexico - also smack dab in the middle of the day…in the dessert no less