Dawn To Dusk -Timing the shot


With outdoor subjects, especially architecture and landscape, the time of day is critical to 
the photograph that one takes. The changes in the angle of light determine how the subject appears and how it appears better at a certain time compared to the other. The viewpoint will need to be changed as per the available light. 

This is especially true if you want to show a particular element, such as form or color.  Many photographers prefer to shoot early in the day or late
 in the afternoon. The low angle 
of the light means that it is more diffuse than at midday. Furthermore, the angle is better at revealing the form of a landscape. Its interesting how the same place can look drastically different at different times of the day. Of course it looks different in different seasons.

What time you need to get up to take advantage of the early light will, of course, depend on
the time of year and your location. But one advantage of avoiding the middle of the day is that as the sun rises, the lighting changes quickly—allowing you to produce a varied portfolio of pictures in a short time. This is why professional landscape photographers like to be in position before dawn, so they are ready to capture the rapid transformation. In some parts of the world, and in some months, this period of change will last longer than in others. But if you miss dawn and the sun is higher in the sky, you become more reliant on the weather to create interesting lighting effects.



Retro park in Madrid, Spain


Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE at sunset.



Not the last lightNot the last light

Indian ocean, Singapore


Painted with LightPainted with Light Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand


After a hectic photography trip in ladakh, we were returning back to the hotel, when the approaching traffic caught the eye. One advantage of not driving yourself is, you get to notice a lot. well, you do notice otherwise also but are not always able to shoot. Tried to align the approaching lights along the rear view mirror in this late evening twilight shot taken at high ISO. 

Lisbon,Portugal



Early or Late part of the day

Many location photographs can look flat and uninteresting. Photographers arriving at a location when the sun is high find a flat, even illumination to the environment. The colours can look washed out and there is little or no light and shade to create modelling and texture. The mood and atmosphere of a location can be greatly enhanced by the realization that most successful location images are taken when the sun is low, dawn or dusk, or as it breaks through cloud cover to give uneven and directional illumination. When the sun is high or diffused by cloud cover the mood and the subject contrast usually remain constant. When the sun is low the photographer can often choose a variety of moods by controlling the quantity, quality and position of shadows within the image. Colours are often rich and intense and morning mists can increase the mood dramatically.