We are at the “some days warm, some days cold” part of the year so here are some outdoor shots I took, and this is a good opportunity to go over some basics. First of all, golden hour, which are the ideal times of the day for most photos to be taken outdoors on a sunny day as the sun looks best on our skin at these times of day. There are two each day – one in the morning and one in the afternoon and you will have to look them up online as they change both in terms of occurrence and in duration depending on the time of the year. The good news is you don’t have to be 100% just know the earlier the day or the later the day the closer to this period you are and the better the light is. The least ideal time is when the sun is directly overhead.
Next up, notice I am using that road again. Roads and sidewalks are great, especially straight ones as they create natural leading lines and give you something for your subject to do – walk up them or walk down them. Better yet, if you have your subject walking away you can have them stop and look over their shoulder. But that’s not all, you can find roads aligned with the sun or parallel and get different lighting effects. There is just so many cool affects you can pull out of roads.
Finally, mood. Sometimes you just have to settle for the mood your subject is in. Or I should say you have to do a cost benefit analysis and determine the mood they are in is just what you are going to go with. Think of it this way – sometimes the choice is you spend 55 minutes of your 60-minute session trying to get a smile from someone who doesn’t want to smile, or you can spend 55 minutes photographing moody looks from someone who is moody – which seems like a better use of time? Besides usually people come around and start smiling when they realize you aren’t there to fight their mood.
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