Golden hours, blue hours, nighttime. What about shooting mid-day? Some say you should avoid shooting during the harsher light of mid-day. I think you will miss out on many opportunities to get great shots if you follow that advice.
Yes, the mid-day light of a sunny day is contrasty and its color temperature does not allow for the beautiful, soft, colorful light of the golden hours. Yet, during this time of day you can use the previously discussed HDR technique to deal with the high contrast just fine.
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The high contrast sunny daylight also can make for some dramatic black and white images. If it is an overcast day, you have a chance at getting a good portrait shot without the squinty raccoon-eyes of the sunny day shot.
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There is something beautiful and timeless about a black and white shot. It could have been taken yesterday, or 20 or 50 or 100 years ago. That is if you don’t provide clues like modern-day clothes or vehicles. It does take some practice to get the hang of making a good black and white image though.
People, patterns, shapes, lines, and textures make for good black and white subjects to start out on. Nice high contrast stuff, just like you might see on a sunny mid-day.
A good technique to help you learn how to make a good black and white image is to set your LCD screen to display a black and white image while shooting in RAW format. This will work if you have a DSLR or an advanced point and shoot with this capability.
In RAW format, the camera will record a color shot (while displaying the b & w image on the LCD screen). The LCD image will give you an idea of what the final image could look like. Later, in the digital darkroom, you can convert this RAW image to black and white and make it look any way you desire within the limits of the exposure.
The RAW image will make for the best black and white conversion because it contains the most information. You still have the option to use the color version as well, a definite advantage. I’ll talk about black and white conversions in software in a future post.
The accompanying photo, Frozen Bluff, was taken mid-afternoon on a generally sunny winter’s day. (Anyone nostalgic for winter?)
Kings Park Photo Club: Meets the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Kings Park Library, at 7 PM. Next meeting is August 15th. Kings Park Fire Department will celebrate its 100th anniversary on Saturday, August 3rd from 1 PM to 10 PM at the Kings Park Schools property, Church Street and Old Dock Road. A fireworks show by Grucci will be held in the evening. Great chance to get some spectacular fireworks photos.
Thanks for reading. Please post any suggestions for future topics in the comments.
