![]() There are always caveats and details that should go along with these blanket statements. If there are other apps you would recommend me to check out, please reach out! Exceptions? I tend to balance two or more weather apps (3rd choice is to see the average and I do not trust one app solely. If I would choose one app, Weather Underground/Wunderground is my recommendation. Over the past 5 years I have watched the weather every single day. The two apps I recommend are WeatherUnderground and Dark Sky. I would love to say “Sure! We can shoot whenever you want”, but in order to create the images I’m known for, you have to understand that light plays a very large factor. We may get lucky and have clouds roll in, but if we have cloudless skies, we will have to duck for shade, and it will affect the quality of light in your images. Sure, we can shoot at 9am or 3pm, but do know there is a tradeoff with the quality of light. Everyone loves to negotiate but Mother Nature is unfortunately set in her ways. The followup question I always get is “Can we shoot mid-way between?”. So basically the light gets worse as you approach noon from either direction (sunrise or sunset). No one is attractive when they’re squinting into the lens unless they’re Paul Newman, or Chris Hemsworth. When the sun is out in full force we all have a tendency to squint as well. This creates terrible and unflattering shadows where we don’t wait to see them (under our eyes, under our noses to make them seem bigger … no one wants that). The worst light of the day is between the hours of 10am and 2pm when the light comes from overhead. This makes it easier to balance and also looks more flattering. Because they have more atmosphere to penetrate to get to you (the subject) it’s less intense and is more easily offset by the indirect light that will also hit you. This is because the sun’s rays have further to travel when they are low on the horizon. Golden hour is a thing and the reason it’s the best time of day to photograph is because the light is less harsh during sunset/sunrise than during the middle of the day. Make sense? We don’t start at 7am because by the time we end it will be 3 hours + from sunrise. So this means if sunrise is 5am, I would want to start our Signature Session latest by around 6:20am so that we end by 7:40am which is close to the 2 hour cutoff from sunrise time. ![]() For indoor sessions I suggest within 2 hours on either side of noon depending on the time of year. The following suggestions are for outdoor sessions. Or you can use a specialty tool like ) and in the days before the session I touch base with each family or couple to firm up the session start time based on the forecasted weather. As a safety measure, I tell all of my clients we aim for the hour before sunset ( google is the best resource when trying to find out when sunset is. Since I am a Boston photographer, it’s pretty hit or miss if we manage to get a sunny day. Of course, this is based on the assumption the sun is visible. This will be up to your personal taste because it is different for us all.The number one question: When should we take photos?Įvery photographer will tell you that the best time of day to do photos is starting/ending within 1-2 hours of sunset or sunrise. Once you have a proper exposure, place your subject between you and the flash and slowly bring up the power until it gives you a sun flare type look. If you are going to be using flash in front of your subject, go ahead and set it to your liking as well. Once you have your light set up, go ahead and expose your image without the flash. A 1/4 CTO should be just enough to give it a slight orange tint. It is good practice, but not a must, to use a CTO gel on your fake sun light. ![]() The smaller modifiers also give you less to clean up in post. The reason being, these modifiers are round and small, and will give you a similar look to the sun. If you are going to want the actual flare in the image, I would suggest using a beauty dish, a reflector, or even a bare bulb for your light that will be behind your subject pretending to be the sun. First, start off by choosing what modifier you are going to use. Buff Einsteins because I love the flexibility I get with the Cyber Commander, but any light will do, even a speed light. You can pull of this image with as little as one light or as many lights as you please. First image using "The Fake Sun" at the workshop The Technique
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