Summer Changes Your Photographic Light

As summer moves in, the days get longer and hotter. Photography is all about lighting and as the days get longer, the type of natural light that you have available to you changes with the season. So, how will the summer days affect your photography?

Earlier Dawns

Summer days start earlier than fall and winter days. This not only means you would have to get up earlier to get those dawn shots, but you’ll also have to take into account the intensity of the sun. As the sun comes down on a summer morning, it can often be intense depending on the weather.

Strong Midday Sun

Midday is not generally the best time for photography. The sun is harsh and can often complete wash out a great shot. From noon to about three o’clock in the afternoon, you’ll find the sun is very strong. Although, strong sunlight can make your strong colors appear more brilliant while you’re lighter colors seem more pale and washed out. Depending on what you’re shooting, high noon in the summer may be a good time to shoot certain items depending on their colors.

Later Dusks

A summer evening is not only cooler, but it comes much later. This provides you with a little more time in the evenings to shoot. You’ll find that the summer can often offer amazing sunsets depending on your location and the weather at the time. The color of the sunlight also changes drastically throughout the day during the summer and can offer excellent opportunities for getting unique shots.

It is generally better to shoot during the late afternoon or early evening of the summer, as the shadows produced are usually longer and softer. This often creates a better photo than your bright midday. However, at the same time, you need to be careful that the shadows do not cause your photos to be overexposed.

Don’t Let Your Camera Get Fooled

Almost white bright winter snow, bright summer light can cause unique challenges to your camera. The bright sun can fool your light meters, which causes your images to look dark in your photos. The result is often that your photos are underexposed. You can compensate for this by manually setting your camera to have a wider opening of between 1 and 2 F-stops. This will usually provide you with the ability to take clearer photographs.

Reducing Flair

Another issue that often occurs is that a flare occurs in your shots. You can try to compensate for this by blocking some of the sun with your hand or moving into a position where another object blocks some of the direct sun causing the flare.

By considering your lighting and using these tips, you’ll be able to find great summer shots and you’ll be able to preserve all of your summer memories in excellent photos. Of course you can learn more than these few tips. Greater detail with techniques gives you greater results - think about that and then download this guide for more techniques and tips

Contributed by Amy Renfrey

One Response to “Summer Changes Your Photographic Light”

Teresa Nelle Says:
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:14 am
Aloha,
I am new to the group but just wanted to let you know I enjoyed your article; am a budding photographer myself = just for fun!
Mahalo,
Teresa