Advantages Of Early Morning And Evening Light
The best time to take photographs is during the first few hours after sunrise and a few hours before sunset. The color temperature of the light at these times is distinctly different.
Morning Offers Cool Colors And Stillness
As the earth rotates, the sun catches the clouds and puts on quite a show. I’ve found out that the most magnificent cloud
illumination occurs during a 20-minutes period before the sun rises. By the time the sun comes up, the show is over.
When the cloud begins to change colors, you can begin shooting photos. As the earth rotates, the clouds will change color
and then return to their morning gray. You usually have only few minutes to catch the scene before it disappears.
Another aspect of shooting in the early morning is that not many others are out wandering around.
Evening Light Makes Color Appear Warm
If you shoot photos within an hour of sundown, the colors in the photo will appear warm, like those shown in figure 15-8 (Dave Huss, How To Do Everything With Digital Photography, McGraw-Hill:California. pg. 215). Often most beautiful effects will take place in a 20-minute period before and after the sunsets.
The Beauty Of Night Photography
Night photography is fun. You rarely predict how the lighting will affect the final
photo when the shutter is held open for long periods of times.
The best time for night photos is often not in the middle of the night, but at dusk.
During the hour before and after sunrise, you will still get the mood and effects of nighttime photography
while being able to capture more detail in your subject. And you can use faster shutter speed.
Photographing By The Light Of The Moon.
If you want to take photographs using the moon as your primary light source, time and a little bit of luck is essential.
Moonlight is bright enough to use as a lighting source for only a few days a month. Although the night of the full moon is
the brightest night, you’ll usually have sufficient light for photographing either a few days before or after the full moon.
Try to do your shooting during the first two to three hours after the moon rises. At this time, the moon will be high enough
in the sky to illuminate your subjects without loosing shadows.
Night Photography And EV Compensation
If you are shooting the stars or a cityscape, try using your EV (Exposure Value) Compensation settings to capture more detail in low-light situations. EV compensation is usually set on +2 or –2 scale. Begin with a –2 setting for low-light situations.
Night Photography And Noise
The source of the noise is the sensor in your camera. Taking photos under low-light conditions requires longer exposure times. Longer exposure times means the sensor is active for longer periods of time. The longer the sensor is on, the more internal heat is generated, creating more noise. Figure 15-12 (Dave Huss, How To Do Everything With Digital Photography, McGraw-Hill:California. pg. 219) is a classic example of noise produced by the camera sensor using a long exposure time in a low-light shot.
