How Lighting Impacts a Session

About a month ago, I posted a shoot that I did with my girls at Gulf Beach in Milford, CT. I absolutely loved just about every image, so it got me thinking about why.  One of the reasons was the weather, and the impact it had on the lighting I got to work with. It was a very cloudy day, and as a result, there was a nice soft light, which meant I had the run of the beach to use without having to worry about what direction I was shooting in to avoid harsh shadowing. After that session, I decided to take on a project to show how lighting can change the look and feel of a gallery. I set out to photograph my girls at the same location during four different times of the day. I wanted to capture them right after sunrise, during the day on a bright sunny day, during the day on a cloudy day, and right before sunset.

So here are the results!

I'm going to start with my favorite lighting scenario which is a fully cloud covered sky! Clouds act as a natural light diffuser, and create a beautiful soft light which is really easy to work with.  There is no need to worry about harsh shadowing falling on the face at any time, so it sets up on opportunity to pretty much nail every shot, where ever the subject(s) might be.  Following are some of the images taken around 10am with full cloud coverage.

Next up are the shots I took at the exact same time of day, 10am, but on a bright sunny day. I was actually surprised by the results. There were a number of images I loved, which I wasn't expecting, but if you notice, in a majority of them, their backs are turned to me, and I'm not shooting their faces.  Capturing their faces was a bit more tricky.  I had to be very conscious of where the shadows were landing.  So many shots that I would have easily been able to get in the previous lighting scenario, I was not able to capture under these conditions.  So although doable, it's definitely not the ideal situation.

Aside from a cloud covered sky, my other favorite time to shoot is during golden hour, the hour before sunset, on what was a bright sunny day. The session starts with more golden tones, and as the sun falls lower in the sky, softer blue/pink tones begin to come through.

Finally, I attempted to shoot right after sunrise, but despite getting the girls up and out of the house by 5:30am, we were too late.  The sun was already too high in the sky at around 6:15am that day, at which point it was extremely harsh.  It made for some neat shots with shadows, but this was definitely my least favorite time to shoot.  I'm sure the light is beautiful right after sunset, but this time of year, since the days are so long, you would have to start shooting very early.  I'll have to try it again this fall when the sun comes up later in the morning.

So in summery, I would recommend crossing your fingers for a cloudy day when shooting. If you get a day with bright sun, and not a cloud in the sky, try and hold off for golden hour. If golden hour is just too late in the day, and you have to shoot earlier, I would recommend finding a location that has some open shade to work with. That way the sun will be diffused by either trees or a building, and you will get the same soft lighting affect that you would with full cloud coverage. I have a good example of this for a family session I recently did. I will share that on the blog soon.