What Time of Day is Best For Outdoor Photography?
One question I get asked most often is why the time of day we shoot matters so much for outdoor family sessions. Well, I am so glad you’re wondering the same because I have some strong feelings about this one. 😉 While meeting for photos a little later in the morning or little earlier in the afternoon might be more convenient, it’s almost never worth that convenience when you account for the change in light quality that happens as we approach midday.
Good Quality Light Flatters Everyone
Turns out that the time of day we shoot, perhaps more than any other variable, makes the biggest impact on how your images will look. It’s more important than the location you choose. It’s more important than how good your outfits look. It’s more important than whether or not your kids are melting down for 75% of the shoot. It’s even more important in helping you look your best than skipping that glass of wine the night before and sleeping an extra hour. Good light quality can flatter the heck out of everyone in your family and poor light quality can jeopardize all other best laid preparation.
Direction of Light is Important
WHY is this?! Because the position of the sun in the sky changes from sunrise to sunset. The sun is low in the sky 1-2 hours after sunrise and before sunset. Between those sunrise- and sunset-hugging hours, the sun is higher in the sky, and is more-or-less directly overhead at noon. When the sun is low, the directional light it casts can be used in a variety of flattering ways, from front-lighting, side-lighting, and backlighting. Backlighting allows for those cool sun flares like the one you see in the photo above. When the sun is high in the sky, you essentially have an overhead spotlight that can cause harsh shadows in places you don’t want them. Think raccoon eyes and nose shadows. If this is hard to visualize, think about what you look like in a mirror when you have vanity lights hitting you from eye level vs how you look when you’re lit from only an overhead light.
Intensity of Light is Also Important
In addition to light direction, the intensity of light tends to increase as we approach mid-morning and that intensity usually lasts until late afternoon. Of course there are caveats to this: rain clouds, fog, wildfires. But in general, you’ll have softer and more filtered (by natural features like trees and cliffs and artificial features like buildings) light in the early part of the day or the late part of the day. You’ve likely heard the term “magic hour” which refers to the hour before sunset when the light is low and soft and has a slight orange glow to it. It’s my favorite time of day to shoot and it most definitely lives up to its name.
