Photography 101: Best Time to Shoot

Have you ever wondered when is an optimal time of the day for you to go on one of your photographic explorations?

You’ve probably heard this hundreds of times, but the light really does make or break photographs. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or expert in photography, mastering the natural light seems like a lifelong theme. While artificial light could be controlled, natural light changes hour to hour, day to day, season to season, and location to location. But that’s the beauty of natural light: it’s never the same!

The best time of the day to go on your photographic exploration is -without a doubt- during golden hour, which is a period shortly after sunrise or before sunset when light is warmer and softer compared to the rest of the day. In fact, most of my favourite pictures -including picture of lovely Laura down below- are taken on golden hours.

The most inconvenient time the day to go on your photographic exploration, on the other hand, is around noon, as the light that reflects from the sun is very harsh causing excessive contrast. But don’t let harsh light scare you away! You can still capture beautiful images, but you just have to be a little more creative. If you’re shooting around noon you can either 1) find a nice shade 2) turn subject’s back to the sun or 3) use foam board/reflector/diffuser to eliminate harsh shadow on the subject.

Same principle applies when you're having your fancy pictures taken. If you're wanting beautiful, warm pictures, book your sessions on the last hour of light before sunset -- or the first hour of light after sunrise, if you're up for a challenge (no pun intended).

By the way, here is the unedited shot to show you how warm the golden hour light is naturally without the edit:

Thank you for your time, and let me know if you have anything you'd like me to cover. Happy shooting!

• Nagi xx