Portrait photography tip: Shoot early in the morning or late in the afternoon

Thursday 23 July 2020, 16:32 by Elja Trum | 3,974 views | 1 comment

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

When you shoot outdoors, the available light is very important. You find the most beautiful sunlight just before the sun goes down. The so-called 'golden hour'.

f/1.8, 1/2000s, 100 ISO @ 135mm
In practice, that hour with the very best light is usually not an hour, but shorter. Plan your photo session for about two hours before sunset to make maximum use of this light, and carry on for a little while after the sun has gone down.

Especially in spring and autumn, you can photograph in this beautiful light at convenient times. Now, in summer, you have to get up very early or you will still be out shooting late in the evening.

For a beautiful portrait photo in this light, let the sunlight fall on your model from the side. If necessary, use a reflector to light up the other side of the face.

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About the author

Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.

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1 comment

Donald Willemsen wrote on Friday 24 July 2020 at 22:30 | reply
Nothing wrong with this tip, but it applies to all kinds of outdoor photography. Except in cloudy weather, in the middle of the day you have extremely harsh light and extremely harsh shadows. For portraits that isn't beautiful, but it isn't for other subjects either.
Translated from Dutch.

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