Learning about Light

We often hear photographers talking about "good" light and "bad" light. It's easy to think that there is one kind of light that is always good, and one kind that is always bad. But that is a mistake. ALL kinds of light can be good or bad, depending on the intention and how it is being used. Let's break it down and talk about different kinds of light, and where they can be used best in landscape photography.

Sand Dunes under Gold Light

Golden Light

Often referred to as "golden hour" which is the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, this kind of light lends itself well to photographing landscapes, because it provides a beautiful golden cast on everything it touches. Shadows become longer and softer, which diminish harsh contrast and dark distractions. Golden light works best in situations where you have a subject and/or landscape with multiple surfaces and contours, because the low angle of the sun enhances the shapes within the structures. This includes mountains, hills, dunes, waves, and even flat lands with trees or flowers protruding from the ground. Often, photographing during the golden hour will provide one with the most energy-infused photos, the result of the golden color cast infusing everything with warmth and vibrancy.

Heron under the full moon

Blue Light

Blue light, or blue hour, takes place in the hour before sunrise and the hour after sunset, when there is no direct sunlight and the blue cast comes from the ambient light in the sky. As the color blue is often associated with calmness and peace, it's a good idea to find a scene that will speak well to those emotions. This light also works for scenes that invoke a sense of mystery or eeriness, as the darker conditions and lack of direct light allow for dramatic silhouettes and shapes of object to take center stage, and details to be somewhat lost. Blue hour is also a time when other sources of light are more pronounced, and can therefore add or detract from a photo. This includes the moon, stars, street lamps, car lights and buildings.

Letchworth Falls in Autumn

Ambient Light

When the skies are completely overcast, don't put away your camera! This is the best time to focus on capturing details within a greater landscape, like flowers, intimate forest scenes, waterfalls, autumn leaves, rock formations, and the like. This is because of the soft, even light across the landscape, void of any harsh shadows and highlights produced by direct sunlight. Ambient light works best for scenes that require little dynamic range, and is tailor made to show beautiful details and natural colors within that small range of light. It's also worth looking up every now and then to see if there are eye-catching cloud formations in the sky, which can add a great element to a larger landscape scene.

A Path through the Forest

Side Light

When you want to make your photo appear three-dimensional, side light will often get the job done best. This happens when the sun is at your side, usually a bit lower in the sky, casting its light onto the sides of all the focal points within the scene you are capturing. It's easiest to showcase side light when you have a dominant, multi-surfaced subject such as a mountain, but it can be equally beautiful in a forest setting, open field, or any locaiton that contains at least some sort of raised element that can adequately catch the light. The great thing about shooting with side light is that the chance you'll end up with blown out highlights under a highly dynamic range is extremely low, as you aren't facing the sun, and yet you'll still have a wonderful sunlit glow within the scene.

Sunset in Sedona, Arizona

Back Light

The most difficult to work with of all the lights, yet often the most rewarding, back light is when you are shooting into the sun. This is almost always the case when you are shooting a sunrise or sunset, with the sun hanging low in the sky, a blindingly bright blob ready to ruin even the greatest of photos. So what's the draw for shooting a backlit scene? Simply put, having a beautiful "sunstar" in your photo is almost always an eye-catcher. Not to mention that it usually illuminates your foreground with a wonderful golden glow. There are a few tricks for capturing the perfect sunstar and perfectly exposed scene, without a blown out blob in the sky. You can use graduated filters on your lens, capture multiple shots with different exposure settings and blend them together later, shoot mostly for the shadows, and use a small aperture. These will all get different results, and different photographers prefer different methods. But one thing is undisputed: When the sun is hanging low in the sky, illuminating that flower or rock perfectly in front of it, no one will walk away without shooting it.

After the Desert Storm

Spot Light

This is a dramatic form of light that naturally takes place when there are breaks in the clouds, allowing sunlight to filter through and hit particular areas of the landscape. It is best utilized when your main subject is being lit with the surrounding landscape in the shadows. Often, when there is spot lighting, it can be useful to set up your camera on a tripod and wait until the light moves perfectly into place to get your shot. In this example, late day sunlight bursts through a gap in the cloudy sky, hitting particular areas of these rugged desert peaks, and helping enhance the dominance of the subject. Because the top of the peak is in bright, warm sunlight, and most of the scene is quite dark with cold tones, the subject stands out even more.