Choosing the Right Time of Day for Your Portraits
There are just a few simple things to think about when you are booking your photo session and thinking about the best time of day for the circumstance. First, if you are going on location outside you should check the weather and the surroundings of the environment. Is there going to be shade, what kind of light is going to be given.
When I book on location shoots I love overcast and cloudy days. These days are the best in my opinion to shoot any time of the day as long as there is light. The clouds block out any harsh light that would normally create shadows and create a diffuser for the sun to disperse the light evenly and lightly across your skin. If you don't have the luxury of the clouds and you have a full sunny day, the best times to shoot are when the sun is not directly above you in the sky which is generally mid day between noon and 2 pm.
Depending on the time of day that the sun sets could change this timing. I generally like to shoot early mooring from sunrise (for amazing silhouette portraits) to 11am when the weather starts to warm up. Then in the afternoon around 4pm till sunset is generally a great time to shoot as long as the sun doesn't effect the quality of the photos. The photographer should be able to gauge this and angle the camera to avoid any sunspots and problems.
If you are tying to get a dark, depressing, or gloomy feeling to your portraits, the best time is right before a thunderstorm or when you have an overcast of angry clouds. A foggy morning is also great for this type of themed portrait. Sometimes shadows are required in the portraits and you can use the sun to your advantage on location for this. Depending on the placement of the shadow cast is opposite of where you want the sun to be. If you want dark shadows under the eyes, mid day is just perfect. If you want the shadow to either side of you, the sun must be on the opposite side of the sky. You can create some awesome and cool looking portraits including shadows but it is really all about what you are trying to portray. Most portraits are done with a soft light source so shadows wont be something you will want most likely.
When photographing in a studio the time of day will only depend on your schedule and the subjects in the photos. When babies are involved, it is usually best to book your session early morning after the baby has eaten breakfast or right after mid day nap time. You never want to bring your baby to a portrait session, sick, hungry or tired because a mad baby makes for a bad experience. Same concept for young children, however, I normally suggest that parents consider an on location session with toddlers and children because cooping them up into a studio setting is most often stressful and unwanted of the children. In most cases, the portraits come out much better outside when the child can have fun and be themselves.
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Thanks for reading,
