Photography and in particular, outdoor and nature photography, is one of the main reasons that I personally head outdoors. To me there’s nothing more relaxing than getting up early (or heading out right after dinner) to get to a great photo spot and wait for the light to be perfect. It’s not the getting there that’s relaxing, it’s the waiting that is relaxing.

Now, why is the timing so important in outdoor photography?? Well if you’ve ever been out in the sun at around noon or 1 in the afternoon and taken pictures, you know what i mean. Shots come out so bright that you can barely tolerate the harsh coloring that results. You can tone everything down with a series of filters as well as adjustments to the white balance settings in your camera, but the best results typically come from ‘Good Light’.

Good natural light is only available for around an hour a day. The 1/2 hour (maybe 45 minutes) right after the sun rises and the 1/2 hour as the sun is setting are by far the best times to be outside taking photos. The light at this time of day is very subtle, the shadows are long and expressive and the colors of nature are their most vibrant at these times.

Photographic results depend on the temperature of the light for their results. The higher the temperature of the light, the harsher the colors. Here’s an experiment that you should try out to see what I mean:

  • Set your camera up on a tripod
  • Set your camera on automatic with some standard setting
  • Focus on something that will allow you to see some details both close up as well as at a distance.
  • Every hour on the hour (or every half hour or whatever time interval you want), take a shot
  • After shooting literally all day from sun up to sun down take a look at the results of your pictures

You’ll see that the shots that you took in the middle of the day tend to be very harsh in their presentation. These shots can possibly be altered in photoshop (or some other photo editing program), but the best shots typically need little altering. You will also see that the shots taken during the prime shooting times will have nice warm and variant colors — or will illustrate a beautiful array of shadows.

Happy shooting.