The best way to begin this section is to give you examples of some bad shots.
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Bad shot example 1:
Shooting human subjects with sun directly overhead (high noon)
There are several reasons why this shot will come out absolutely terrible.
- “Raccoon Eye” effect. The human subject(s) will have large shadows under their eyes when the sunlight is directly overhead. This is because all humans have eye sockets. When the light is directly overhead it casts horrible looking shadows directly on the face.
- “Glowing” shoulders. If the human subject is wearing anything light-colored or is showing bare shoulders (no matter what color of skin), they will appear to glow – and badly.
- “Squinty” eyes. At high noon the sun is at its brightest. Your human subject will be squinting. And it looks bad.
Bad shot example 2:
Shooting anything on the water
With the exception of a boat, anything shot on the water is almost guaranteed to come out looking bad. It takes lots of trial-and-error to get a decent looking water shot. Why? Because everything reflects off the water.
You will find yourself fighting with the camera constantly – especially if you don’t have manual focus – if you try to shoot anything in or around water that has even the slightest waves (or even ripples).
To note: It is not impossible to shoot subjects or objects on water, but don’t be surprised if it’s not exactly what you expected. It takes practice.
Bad shot example 3:
Fire/Flames
Fire is also something that is extremely difficult to shoot, for the following reasons:
- Fire is in itself is a light source.
- It is a light source that isn’t consistent whatsoever.
- It constantly changes in shape and size.
- It is completely unpredictable.
- Your eye sees fire differently than the way a camera “sees” it.
There are more reasons, but you get the idea.
Even shooting something as simple as a candle flame can be very frustrating. There are aspects to the flame that, like a full-blown fire, change that you cannot control.
The best outdoor light is “Flat”
“Flat light” in layman’s terms is light that is “even”. It’s not too warm/hot, not too cool/cold. It is the type of light that casts minimal shadow and lights a subject evenly.
Concerning outdoor flat light, the best possible shooting conditions is an overcast day. This is not to be confused with rain clouds. Overcast simply means that the sunlight is diffused by overhead clouds. This diffusion makes sunlight much easier to work with.
It is very difficult to get a bad shot when you’re shooting outdoors on an overcast day. In conditions such as those, everything looks better, photograph-wise. More concentration is placed on the subject in every shot and very little if anything light-wise is “out of place”, so to speak.
Typically, the ideal time for an overcast day is during the Spring season or near the end of the Summer season. Obviously this depends on where you are in the world, but more often than not those two times of the year will prove to provide the best shooting conditions.
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