Home Forums Gear Photography Quality of light

For as long as I can remember photography has always been about painting with light. In all the classes I had in high school and college about art, painters always used great paints. They made sure they used the best materials possible to get the best results possible. Photography is no different. About 90% of the work I do outside is done during the magic hours of light. Early morning and late evening offer the best quality of light.
Mornings tend to have �cooler� light because the atmosphere tends to be clearer of debris and other objects that can change the quality of light. Evenings and sunsets tend to be much warmer because of all of the stuff that is in the atmosphere. There tend to be more clouds because the humidity has heated up and formed clouds. Debris floating in the sky tends to give a much warmer quality of light than morning. I don�t really have a favorite between the two, the pastels of morning vs. the orange and gold of sunset.
In the images below I used the Sony NEX-7 with the Tamron 18-200mm Di-III lens and I attempted to come very close to duplicating the compositions. I think the photos have extremely different results when viewing them, not that one is better than the other, but instead I feel the mood of the photo changes. The morning photos tend to be more soothing while the evening photos tend to be more dramatic. To me these photos emphasize the fact that if you are serious about capturing the best photos you have to go out often and try the same scenes in both morning and evening light.
This time of year it is great to work in both situations because of the shorter days. I can shoot and then have breakfast, go back in the evening and then have dinner. It makes up for all of the long summer days where breakfast and dinner were out of the question.
I spoke with Joel at Camera Land via emails about their great Black Friday specials. I will post some information about them in a day or so. I actually had to confirm the pricing with him because it was such a great deal on some lenses! Check back on the forum in a couple of days, trust me, you don�t want to miss it!

Even with no clouds for a dramatic sky, the "earth shadow" like you have in #1 and the soft light that appears before sunrise or after sunset is nice.

Doug, it is amazing how different the shadow appears between morning and night too.

Looks like you've playing in the 2 mile channel.

You are correct Capt! I wanted to do some Eagle photography at 2 mile but didn't get the chance. The adults were very busy building their nest just past the turn off. Down from a boat dock advertising for you (I am guessing it was for you) I saw another pair building a nest as well.

Wasn't my advertising. I pretty much fish the same guys year after year.

Give me a shout when you're down and I'll show you some areas to photograph eagles.

Thanks! As of now it may not be until May, but I will let you know for sure.