Landscapers and favorite time of day

[Steve M Hostetter]

Lately I've been setting out with a certin subject in mind.. I get out at 5:30 am with sunrise @ 7:00 am this time of year.
Gives me an hour and a half to drive 50+ miles
I'm finding a 600mm 11.5 on 8x10" camera to be near impossible to use down in dark dry creekbeds at dawn.
I guess my answer is it depends on the subject and how they are located to the dirction of the sun.. When I pre-plan a shot
When I go on a trip I might shoot from just before sunrise to 10:00am then start back shooting an hour or two before sunset.
steve

[Lon Overacker]

The challenge is in finding an image you want to capture in the light you have available. There are *always* images available, in any kind of light, at any time of day. The question is: can you see them? The danger of getting in a rut and only shooting at certain times of day or under certain conditions (we all know people who won't even venture out unless it's cloudy) is that you loose the ability to "see" in less than optimal conditions.

+1 Bruce. I have the same approach. There is always something, it's just a matter of finding and "seeing" it.

Lon

[Vaughn]

Any time of day is good for me. Any type of conditions, from rain and snow to bright sun. A day out photographing beats a day doing just about anything else! Just sayin'...

I agree, also! If there is light, there is a great photograph out there to be made!

But in the redwoods, I find the best time to be 10am to 2pm. Perhaps add an hour or so on each end during the summer.

Vaughn

And I will add that Bruce is right on about:

The danger of getting in a rut and only shooting at certain times of day or under certain conditions (we all know people who won't even venture out unless it's cloudy) is that you loose the ability to "see" in less than optimal conditions.

I always listen to myself -- if I start a sentence by saying, "I always...", that is my clue that I might be "rutifying" myself. I use to say that I only photographed in the redwoods from 10am to 2 pm on overcast days (to control the contrast under those centuries of redwood growth) -- so I started to explore other possibilities, and that what partly lead me to carbon printing -- a process that eats contrast for lunch and now I can photograph under the redwoods in any light.

[Two23]

I'm an outdoor shooter, and I don't control the light (with one exception.) So, I try to use the light I find to best advantage. Now for my favorite time to photo--it's night time! At night I actually CAN control the light. I have about 10,000ws of flash.


Kent in SD

[Heroique]

I scout shots at all times of the day – and often take notes so I can return to make use of light at a very specific time, in a very specific place.

Now that’s my favorite time for light.

Most recently, it was any time between 6:30 - 6:45 p.m.

[E. von Hoegh]

Early morning. Late afternoon, early evening. Just before/after sunset.
Actually, it depends upon the scene, but pretty much any time other than midday. Then, there are scenes where midday works, too.

[Jehu]

The lower the sun, the more atmosphere the light travels through. That causes more diffusion. Normally, that's better for just about any composition. There are exceptions. One of the best shots I ever got was at high noon in the summer.

[Struan Gray]

My favourite conditions are the bright, saturated look you get after prolonged drizzle or lifting fog, with enough high cloud to diffuse the sun, but not enough to rid it of directionality or to completely remove shadows. I have experienced it at all hours, but late morning seems to do the trick most often in Scotland and Sweden.

Five minutes after sunset, fifty five degrees off the solar axis, everything turns a limpid green for a couple of minutes. It's not the 'green flash', and I've got it on film, so it's not just my vision adapting to the change in colour temperature of the ambient. I keep an eye out for it when I can.

I spent a lot of time trying to reproduce the intense blues of chicory or harebells at twilight. Then I learned about scotopic vision. And photoshop.

I like hiking at night, by starlight. I stumble a lot, but it's better than ruining my night vision with a headtorch. Photography doesn't cover all aspects of seeing.

[Greg Miller]

Five minutes after sunset, fifty five degrees off the solar axis, everything turns a limpid green for a couple of minutes. It's not the 'green flash', and I've got it on film, so it's not just my vision adapting to the change in colour temperature of the ambient. I keep an eye out for it when I can.

I spent a lot of time trying to reproduce the intense blues of chicory or harebells at twilight. Then I learned about scotopic vision. And photoshop.

I like hiking at night, by starlight. I stumble a lot, but it's better than ruining my night vision with a headtorch. Photography doesn't cover all aspects of seeing.

I noticed that green cast in some of my photos in the past and did some color correcting. Then I started noticing that the color actually happens on occasion.

I used to hike at night by moon or starlight. The I had a couple close calls with venomous snakes on the trail. Now I use a headlamp all the time but that creates tunnel vision which I do not like. Newer headlamps now come with a red light built in in addition to the white light. I'm going to give that a try to see if I can get peripheral vision while avoiding stepping on snakes.

[Robert Hughes]

Low slanting sun? Orange and blue light? You guys are talking about Happy Hour.

What are you doing out in the mud and dust at that time of day? Don't ya know there's 2 for 1 back at the club?