Exercise: Light through the day

You are going to take a very detailed look at what happens to a view as the sun moves, and when the sun is close to the horizon, it can bring a surprising urgency even to landscape photography. The brighter and clearer the weather, the more definite you will find the changes in the light, and so the more successful the exercise will be.

You will need a sunny day for this exercise, or else sun at different times on different days. You are going to photograph one scene from dawn to dusk. The number of pictures you take will depend on the time of year. But try and get at least one per hour, and more at the end of the day when the light is changing faster.

Find a landscape location with a fairly definite subject that will catch the sunlight even when the sun is close to the horizon. It needs to offer a good, clear view that is lit throughout the day, containing an isolated building, perhaps, but convenient to reach, as you will need to keep going back to the exact same spot.

First, make a reconnaissance of the scene, and arrive ready for photography earlier than necessary. One of the things that you should learn from this exercise is that you can anticipate the movement of light and shadows to some extent, and yet there is often an element of unpredictability.

I decided to go to a beach about 40 mins away where a friend lives. I knew it would be secluded and I would be able to get a perfect spot sat on the beach, away from other people walking past my camera. I set off just after 8am as the cloud was low in the sky and there was no sun at all. I honestly thought it was going to rain and I would have to abandon this exercise before I even left the house. But I thought, No,  go and do it because the forecast for the rest of the week was rain, rain and more rain. I set off at 8am and by time I got to the beach and set up with all my junk, the first photograph I took was roughly 9:20am. The sun was just beginning to show itself, so technically I arrived just in time. I then took the rest of the photographs roughly every 1hour so every 20past the hour I took a photograph. At 15:20pm, I unfortunately had to move from the spot I was sat in since 9am, as I was getting extremely sunburnt and needed to sit on a bench, you can see that I still focused on the same spot but I am at a more higher location compared to being sat on the beach itself. At 18:20pm, I had to move again as the pain from the sunburn became too much. I walked down to my friends house and left all my junk at her house. I kept going out to the beach every 20 or 30 mins as the lighting and sun was changing. Around 20:00 hours, I couldn’t take any more, the sun wasn’t set to go down until near on 22:00 hours, and being as sunburnt and hungry as I was, I needed to get home, therefore, my last photograph was about 19:45pm. Below are the images I took.

09:20am

10:20am

11:20am

12:20pm

13:20pm

14:20pm

15:20pm

16:20pm

17:20pm

18:20pm

18:51pm

19:12pm

19:45pm

I have three favourite photographs, I like the photograph taken at 10:20am because I love the bright blue sky contrast against the sand.  The second is taken at 16:20pm as this shows just how sunny and hot the weather was. The last photograph I like is taken at 19:12pm. The sun was beginning to hide behind the clouds, the sun is becoming a lovely pale blue colour.

I did enjoy myself doing this exercise, mainly because I was sat on a beautiful beach all day, although I most certainly paid for it as I am now extremely burnt 😦 ouch.

Project: The time of the day

Dawn to Dusk:

As the sun moves through the sky, it creates new possibilities for photography. Sunrise, early morning, mid-morning, midday, afternoon, late afternoon and sunset, all have a special character in their light. There is very little that a photographer can do to change the way that natural light appears, except on a small scale and with certain filters. But what you can do is choose the time of day at which you shoot. The main control that a photograph ahs over outdoor lighting is simply to wait. Landscape photographers do this a lot.

Most casual snapshots are taken some time around the middle of the day, between mid-morning and mid-afternoon . The main reason is simply convenience. This is an undemanding time of day to shoot. By the time the causal amateur has woken up, had breakfast and travelled to wherever the photographs will be taken, the sun is already fairly high. On top of this, taking photographs under bright lighting is easier for shooting. But midday light, whether sunny or cloudy, is not necessary the  most interesting or attractive. For one thing, it is over familiar and by definition, not special. If you are planning on learning how to use natural light, you will need to work more in the early morning or late afternoon.