There’s an adage in photograph that you shouldn’t take photos between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The reason: the light is too high in the sky to create interesting shadows, modelling and texture on the subject.
The first photo was taken before 7 a.m., the rising sun creates interesting shadows across the front of the church and brings out detail in the white concrete as the light skims across.
Photo 2 taken at 12 noon, the sun is virtually straight over head, the front of the church is in shadow and looking featureless.
Photo 3 taken at 5 p.m. is an improvement with features becoming more defined as the shadows grow.
(All photos Nikon D700, 14 – 24mm Nikkor, 200 ISO)
My preference is the first photo that has lot’s of visual interest and texture. With wedding and portraiture shoots when you haven’t got a choice of time of day is where you use off-camera flash to add modelling to your subject.
Remember it’s the time of the day when the light is right for shooting that can make your photos stand out.
