[Photography] Tips for What to Shoot at Midday

“Don’t shoot at midday!” How many times have you heard that advice? And that you should only shoot during the Golden Hour?

While it is true the grandest landscape vistas prefer the sun lower on the horizon, there is no reason to pack up your camera and take a nap just because the sun is high. Midday may not be ideal for some types of landscape photography, but there are plenty of high-quality photos to be shot.

NOTE: All photos in this article were taken between 10 am and 3 pm.

Details

Details, details, details. Getting in close and ignoring the wide panoramas during midday will open a new world of possibilities.

Close-up prayer wheels – Nepal – shot at midday under cover so the light was coming from the side.

It’s a great time for macro photography as there is ample light for the smaller subjects (and the lenses used to capture them). Beyond macro, look for snippets of a scene that will help describe your subject alongside the Golden Hour shots.

Detail of mosaic tiles with metal door close-up – Morocco.

Close-up of sailing yacht rope and winch – USA – Washington – Bellingham

Plumeria flowers shot outdoors.

Skimmer and strainer – India.

Patterns

Barring the grand vista, looks for patterns in your landscapes. Or in any subject, for that matter.

In my opinion, looking for patterns changes something in your mind. While patterns are certainly artistic in nature, for me they switch on my analytical side and help me to see a scene differently.

Rippled sand in desert – Oman.

Bridge railing – Bhutan.

Kayaks kept in a row – USA – Colorado.

Use a Diffuser

A diffuser will work wonders for those harsh shadows found at midday. You don’t have to drop a fortune on the coolest model as even tracing paper can be used to defuse the light falling on small objects.

The best diffuser is one I like to call, “passing clouds”. I love to have some light clouds in the middle of the day as it brings an even light to subjects.

Close-up of a whale swimming in the sea – USA – Alaska

View of people visiting Harmandir Sahib temple – India.

Here’s an example of some rather large diffusers (used for the next image, with the help of some flash).

Use Your Flash

Whether it is the flash that is built into your camera or an external unit (on the hotshoe or off), adding even more light to a scene might seem counterintuitive at first. Yet adding that light can balance the existing light and remove shadows.

For one thing, the extra light your strobe puts out is probably not going to outshine the sun, I hope. This means the highlights in a scene will hold steady while that extra light gets up under hat brims, eye sockets or any other areas with shadows.

You may need to play around with your strobe’s power (either directly in manual mode or by using your camera’s flash exposure compensation) to get the balance just right.

Star Bursts with a Small Aperture

Have you ever seen those shots with the sun high in the sky and half a dozen (or more) rays emitting from the center of it? Have you wondered how to get such a shot?

It’s really quite easy. Switch to Aperture Priority mode and close down your aperture. That’s it! The more closed the aperture, the more those rays are accentuated, Now all you have to do is frame an interesting composition.

Here are a few more tips on starbursts and sun flares.

Watch Your Angle

Some people believe that once the sun is high in the sky, directly overhead, the light is all the same. This is not true.

While there may be a 15-minute span of time when the light really is the same from any angle, the rest of the time you can find better light by slightly changing your camera angle or position.

Take a look at these sun-dried peppers from Bhutan. Coming upon the peppers I noticed their vibrant red color, giving a clear warning about the spices within. But the first shot was not the best.

When I moved around to the other side of the peppers, that slight change in the sun’s angle (or, more accurately, my relation to the sun’s angle) made all the difference in a capturing the essence of the peppers.

Look for Unique Angles

If the sun is coming in from high overhead, why not get up higher and shoot with it at your back? All these shots are from a third story hotel window looking down on street life in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Some Landscapes Still Work

Photography is certainly not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. While many landscape photographers will tell you there is nothing good to shoot in the middle of the day, there are areas of the planet which lend themselves nicely to wide landscapes in bright light.

I am thinking specifically of the higher places, like Nepal, Bhutan and the Andes, to name a few. The same applies to landscapes as to those peppers mentioned above. Sometimes all it takes is turning around to notice the sun is slightly better in one direction than another. Here are some examples of midday light from around the world.

Yellowstone National Park

Seljalandfoss, Iceland

Mission Ridge Ski Area, Washington, USA

Boudhanath Stupa, Nepal

Washington State Ferry, USA

Mani stones and the Himalayas – Nepal

The time of year can also help. In places like Iceland in the winter, the midday sun is still very low in the sky as compared to the summer.

Conclusion

I agree that grand landscapes with amazing light are usually not found at midday. The Golden Hour holds its name for good reason. But that doesn’t mean you need to hide inside and stop shooting when the clock approaches noon!

Get out there and look for the type of subjects you like, but in midday light. Experiment and see what you can make come alive while other photographers wait for sunset.

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[Photography] How to Photograph Water Droplets on Glass

A little creativity at home can be a lot of fun in photography. In this article, you’ll see how you can make some miniature worlds with some water droplets and a piece of glass!

The process is straightforward enough, you just need some magic sauce. We’ll get to the magic sauce, and why that works in a moment. So let’s take a look at this how-to guide for photographing water droplets.

Who can resist photographing the club badge of their favorite sports team?

The equipment you’ll need

With the exception of the camera equipment, all the items you’ll need for this can be found around the home. The following is a guide to that equipment, but you may have other alternatives as well:

• The glass – You’ll need to find a piece of glass to put the water on. This must be cleaned, so there are no marks. Glass from a picture frame is the obvious source.
• The stand – A pile of books with a gap in the middle will work here, once again use what you have at hand. You will need to have two piles of books, with the glass bridging the gap. Each pile needs to be around 20cm (8″) high.
• A background – This is the picture or patterned paper that you wish to appear in the water droplets when you photograph them.
• A camera – Ideally this will be a DSLR, though any camera that allows for macro photography will work. A camera that allows you to use off-camera flash is better still.
• The lighting – You have two options here, to use strobes or to use a spotlight. Your result will be better with a strobe that it triggered by a remote attached to the camera hot-shoe. If this is unavailable you could use spotlights to light up the background, the brighter the better.
• A tripod – A tripod to put your camera on, is the key to ensuring the sharp focus of the water droplets. You can use the camera handheld, but the results will be less sure.
• The water – A water dropper will be needed to place the water droplets on the glass.
• The magic sauce -You’ll need some car windscreen water repellent. Using this will make the water form droplets on the glass.

Here is some of the equipment needed for photographing water droplets on glass. The most important product to get is Rain X.

The setup

The above equipment now needs to be set up ready to photograph water droplets. This is an easy process, so just follow these steps:

1. Create two piles of books. These should be around 20cm (8″) in height, and with a large enough gap to fit your background between them.
2. Clean the glass, ensuring that there are no marks on it.
3. Place the piece of glass on top of the two piles of books, arranging it so that it bridges the gap between the piles. Be careful with the glass, try to avoid breaking it!
4. Spray the glass with the rain repellent. Wipe away the excess liquid, and then allow it to dry. This should happen fairly quickly.

   ***The repellent is flammable, so again, please take care handling this liquid.***

5. Now place some water drops onto the glass using the dropper. The pattern of drops and proximity of each of them to one another is up to you.
6. Place your background between the two piles of books.
7. Place your light source over the background. Make sure it’s not going to shine on the glass first, the aim is to bounce the light off the background and back up through the glass.
8. Position your tripod next to the plate of glass.
9. Put your camera on the tripod so it is aiming down through the glass. Ensure the tripod is steady and doesn’t tilt or tip over with the weight of the camera body.

This is the main setup I used for taking these photos. The strobe is not in the right position yet, it should be aimed at the striped background.

How to take the photograph

With the setup complete, you’re now ready to take the photos. The following is a step-by-step guide on how to do this:

1. Focus your camera on a section of the glass plate with an interesting water drop formation. To get the sharpest focus turn off the camera’s autofocus and use manual. Now turn on Live View mode, zoom into a droplet (using the magnify view button), and focus the lens manually until the image is sharp.
2. Move the background around to ensure it’s in the best position. You’ll want to look at both how it looks in the water droplets, and also as a background behind them.
3. The camera settings you use can be varied, the following are a guide or starting point. The strobe you’re using may vary in strength, but there is certainly no need for full power. A Canon 430ex II at 1/32 power is sufficient. An aperture of f/9 and a shutter speed of 1/60th was used for the photos in this article.
4. Once you have your photo check your results. You could now focus on some different droplets, move the background, or change the background.

The demonstration photos I took for this article didn’t quite work. In Korea, I was unable to buy Rain X, and the brand I did buy, didn’t work in the same way.

Now it’s your turn!

This, of course, is a form of refraction photography, and not the only way to photograph water droplets.

Have you tried this method, or something similar? How about showing the community your work in the comments section, either past or new images. This is an easy technique to try out at home, and anyone can do it. So why not have a go!?

Here Rain X was used, and the difference is clear. In the background are some colored pencils.

At the time these photos were taken I was living in Malaysia, so this is the Malaysian flag.

This was my first attempt at this style of photo, at this point I wasn’t using Rain X.

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[Photography] Review of the Godox AD200 Pocket Flash

Can you think of the ideal camera flash which can fit in your pocket, has almost 3-times output or regular speedlights, and also features a modeling light? The Godox AD200 is one such pocket flash (not if you are wearing skinny fit jeans) which meets all three of those expectations. That is why this flash has been my personal favorite outdoor fashion shoot light source.

To give you a quick overview of some of the features of the Godox AD200 flash, it features TTL, HSS (high-speed sync) up to 1/8000th of a second, 60 guide number, multi-stroboscopic flash feature and second-curtain sync.

If these specifications make you interested in this Godox flash, let me share my personal views and experiences after using it for more than six months now.

Built Quality and Physical Overview

When you hold the Godox AD200 flash in your hand your first reaction might be that it is too heavy, as it weighs about 1 kg (2 lbs). Although it is heavier than any flagship flash than you might have used to date, at the end of this review you may realize that it is still worth carrying along to a shoot.

The built quality seems and feels durable and strong, almost a par with Canon and Nikon speedlights.

Talking about the physical overview, the front side of Godox AD200 has an interchangeable flash head mount. This allows you to mount the standard Fresnel flash head or the bare bulb flash head.

The only difference between this flash as compared to a speedlight is that the head of the AD200 cannot be rotated. And, the AD200 cannot be mounted on a camera, it can only be used as an off-camera flash. This could be a concern for some, but actually, this flash is not built to be used on-camera anyway.

The standard Fresnel head

The Fresnel flash head is ideal for situations when you are shooting without a light modifier and want to use it as any other speedlight. But an additional feature that the AD200 has is two LED strips on this head, which can use used as a modeling or continuous light. The continuous light could help the camera to focus in low-light conditions, instantly.

Bare bulb

The bare bulb flash head is ideal when while using this Godox flash with a light modifier, as the bulb is omnidirectional. I would choose to avoid using this head otherwise, as it is fragile and could easily be damaged shooting without a light modifier.

Controls

On the back side of the flash rests an AV display panel which is big enough for you to clearly see the various icons being displayed. There are five buttons dedicated to respective functions, a dial to adjust the flash exposure and the infrared sensor panel. The placement of the buttons, dial, and the screen is exactly what you as a photographer would desire in a flash.

On one side of this pocket flash, you will spot the Lithium battery slot, an unlock switch to change the flash head and a rubber cover which covers the 3.5mm sync cord jack and wireless control port. On the other side sits the ON/OFF switch, mini USB port, and a 1/4″ tripod/stand mounting hole.

Highlighted Features and Performance

TTL (Through-the-lens)

This pocket flash by Godox features TTL metering, a technology which allows the flash to sync with the camera and automatically set the flash exposure based on the camera exposure. Using a flash in TTL mode is exactly the same as using the camera in automatic mode. The camera exposure helps the flash to set its own output value accordingly to correctly expose the frame or the subject.

The TTL mode performance on the Godox AD200 is precise in a majority of situations and it works perfectly in sync with the camera exposure to properly expose the subject. I rarely came across any instances where I got an underexposed or overexposed photo when shooting in TTL mode. Even if I did encounter exposure issues, I used the FEC (flash exposure compensation) feature to overcome it.

HSS (High-Speed Sync)

The Godox AD200 can sync up to 1/8000th while using its HSS functionality. This is ideal for situations where you want to freeze a fast-moving subject or shoot at an outdoor location where you need to control the light.

Rear-Curtain Sync

Using the rear-curtain (or second-curtain) sync feature of the Godox AD200, you can shoot some really creative and cool photos with long exposures.

Ideally, when you shoot using a flash, the light gets fired from the flash the moment the shutter opens. So if you are shooting a long exposure photo of two seconds, the flash will fire the moment you press the shutter release button and whatever happens after that does not get exposed properly.

But by using the second-curtain sync feature, you can instead make the flash fire right before the shutter closes. Considering the above example, the flash will now fire just before the 2-second exposure is completed and the shutter closes.

Using this feature might sound confusing, but trust me, once you practice you may fall in love with it.

Flash Exposure Compensation

Assume flash exposure compensation to be exactly like the exposure compensation feature of your DSLR camera. If you feel that you are not getting the desired exposure in your photo while using the flash in TTL, or if you plan to try something different, you can adjust the flash exposure compensation.

This amazing feature lets you reduce or increase the flash output as per your desire, all you have to do is adjust the exposure value to your requirements. This is basically like shooting in aperture priority or shutter priority mode, without getting into manual mode.

Flash Output

The AD200 has a guide number of 60 and the flash output that you get is almost three times of what any flagship speedlight can provide. I was able to expose my subject correctly while shooting outdoors in bright daylight conditions, and believe me when I say that the flash is powerful enough to overpower the background light.

Imagine using three speedlights at a time and on the other hand using just one Godox AD200 flash. The light output shall be almost same. For me, it has performed amazingly well even in low light conditions as I used the built-in LED light to ensure that the focus and flash exposure were correct.

Godox AD200 Flash Recycle Time

The recycle time also plays an important role while deciding on the perfect flash, so here are some tests that I conducted to figure out the recycle time of this flash at various powers.

The recycle time on this flash at full power is quite impressive:

• While using the flash at 1/1 (full) power, the recycle time that I got was just less than 2 seconds.
• While using the flash at 1/2 power, the recycle time that I get was almost half a second.

I mostly use a flash when I’m shooting fashion and portraits, and with this swift recycle time I hardly miss any shots. Even if you plan to buy this flash for wedding, action, or event photography, I am sure you will thank me later.

Would I recommend this?

At $299, this pocket flash by Godox looks like an ideal choice for a fashion, wedding, event, or even sports photographer. This flash has almost all the features that you, as a hobbyist or as a professional photographer, would require to get the desired results, with almost three times the power of a regular speedlight.

I have been using this portable flash for almost 6 months now, and I do not have any major complaint about this beauty, except for the display panel which could be better for outdoor visibility.

The best part about the Godox AD200 is that there is a universal model of this pocket flash. This means that you can pair this flash with the compatible trigger (Canon, Nikon or Sony) and use it as an off-camera light source. So if you own multiple brand cameras, this is another reason you should consider investing your $299 in this Godox flash.

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[Photography] Tips for Working the Scene to Take Your Image from Good to Great

My wife can be very unkind about my photography. She’ll often flick through my edits and ask me where the good shots are… I don’t think she has cottoned on to the fact that us creative types are deeply sensitive.

She said to me recently:

Wouldn’t it be amazing to show people how many bad shots you take before you get any good ones?

She is most obviously not a photographer…

But then I started to think about how much time we photographers spend putting out our very best work, and only our best work – as we should!

I started to think that perhaps she was right. Maybe it would be good to show you the photos I took before I got the shot before I nailed it. Definitely a good teaching idea.

There’s a book I love by Magnum photographers who published a collection of their contact sheets. It shows all the mediocre shots of some of the great masters of the art. That is kind of reassuring, right? If even the masters can’t get it right with one shot, there’s hope for the rest of us!

But also shows the process of refining an interesting scene into a great shot.

Photographic composition is all about being able to see interesting elements out there in the world and arranging them in a pleasing, interesting way. That sounds easy enough, right?

Here are some examples of what kinds of things I notice – and how I work the shot from being a good to great composition.

Scene One

I was in Hong Kong and I was totally awed by the density of skyscrapers, the busy port, intensely colorful lights and the tropical weather.

I am usually a great lover of capturing the emptiness of cities at first light – but for me, Hong Kong was all about evening and nighttime. The play of lights and finding intriguing moments to capture amongst the density of excitement of the city became my goal.

Walking around on my first evening in Hong Kong I saw a red sign in the blue twilight that caught my eye. It had a great contrast of colors. I noticed a nice shapely arrangement of skyscrapers in the distance that created an impressive background across the image.

I’d use a wide aperture to make them a bit soft and create more depth with my red sign. Good start, I’m thinking!

But this isn’t very interesting, right? So I tell myself, “Stop fixating on the red!” Red does tend to keep our attention longer than it really deserves. I start to look around for something else to add to the frame because the elements I have so far are not super-interesting.

I ask myself, “Where are the balance and harmony? Why did I cut my subject in half? Was I so drawn to the skyscrapers that my subject became a secondary thought?”

Yes, that is what I did. I fixated on the red sign and I took a rubbish shot because of it. Where was all my great compositional skill? The image could definitely be improved. So, I move around the scene and moved back.

Okay, this is getting better. Although – can you see in the top right-hand corner there is a little wedge of something. Now I know you can remove things in post-production – but I always aim to get the frame as perfect as possible in camera. It’s more fun for me that way. Plus, if you aren’t checking your corners you are not considering the whole frame, the whole composition.

There is one important point that is obvious here which I tell all of my students – check your corners! I am a believer that you will not create consistently great images if you do not practice total photography. Your subject is only one piece of the perfect puzzle you are attempting to create.

That image you have in your head needs to be constructed – all the pieces assembled with intent. This is a skill separate from camera skills that you must also practice. Just keep shooting with intent and it will come.

Getting back to my images, “Now I’m getting somewhere” I thought. These elements next to the sign, including the circular mirror (why didn’t I see that first? I blame the red!) and the orange light look very compelling to me. So I recompose ever so slightly…

That time though the orange light was off – it was blinking! It took me several frames to get the timing right and capture the orange light.

So after a few minutes of working the scene, I end up with this:

Bang! Now, this is the one. Can you see what’s different in this shot? What I got by moving a little more, and also by timing the shot just right?

You want to get the most impact with every element in your photo. And those details in the mirror are very cool.  You can see how I made the reflection really pop in post-production by creating a circular mask just on the mirror and increasing the contrast, exposure, and clarity some. Sweet.

Scene two

I was in a very industrial part of the city. There were shipping containers everywhere and signs of work around the port. It was an intriguing scene because the ubiquitous skyscrapers were looming in the background.

But the first shot I took, above, is not very interesting, even with decent composition (again it was me thinking that red is really good!) Can you see where I might have thought that there are some interesting elements here that I could work to juxtapose?

I walked up a little further and some vests caught my eye which could be juxtaposed with a backdrop of buildings. But the next shot is not right either.

I saw the work vests and the skyscrapers and thought of the disparity of wealth in this world, especially in cities like Hong Kong – it’s staggering! I got the idea to juxtapose these elements and work a narrative into the image (always a good idea).

I also like this contrast of imagery. You have the workers’ vests draped over the rails – almost like they are exhausted – with the strength and power of the vertical lined building next to them. There is lots of structure contrasted against the softness (weakness) of the workers’ vests.

Even if the narrative was coming together, the photo was not. So I moved around and see what else I could conjure up.

In the shot above I moved back and took in a wider view of the scene. I was really liking this now. The shape of the shipping containers shot at this angle, with the skyscrapers looming in the background works. I still had that strong structure but now with the addition of dynamic lines. Juicy!

I wasn’t totally happy yet – the balance was still not right between the foreground and the background. I needed balance to make the composition neutral and let the viewer pick a side, so to speak.

So I moved a bit more and then – bang – I got the shot.

I am proud of this shot because it displays some of my favourite techniques to compose with – line and form.  These all help to construct a narrative.

I often see people on my workshops who will work a scene, but they stop before they have taken their very best shot because they are thinking “Oh, I can work this in post-production. I can crop it, etc.” Or they’re thinking that it’s “good enough”.

Working to find the very best composition definitely pays off. You will never regret spending those extra minutes just being still and looking at a scene for angles and new ideas. You need to make that kind of effort all of the time. And don’t forget to use your imagination. Make up a story. Open yourself to random crazy thoughts. You never know where they may take you creatively.

The cool thing is – you’re loving every moment because you’re out making images. What could be better right?

Scene Three

This last series of images was taken in Havana, Cuba. I was walking about with my assistant just absorbing some back streets when we came upon this scene with the factory smokestack over a residential neighborhood. Ouch! The light couldn’t have been better – it was just before sunset and the light was very warm.

My first instinct when I come upon something that strikes me is to take a shot. I think we all do it. But it is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you accept that there is more to be done.

So I took the reactionary shot above. Dull and uninspired I thought. After looking at the scene a little more I felt motivated to get something, anything else.

I had a dedicated flash on my camera for some other types of images I was making so took this next shot, with the idea of getting a great image with the smoke. But this too was more of a reaction to the young man in the frame – maybe if I timed it right I would get a good pose.

Nope.

I realized at that point that I was shooting way too wide for what I saw in my head as a vision for this scene. It wasn’t totally clear what that was yet but I knew those first two shots were not it. No way.

I kept moving towards the smoke (at that point our eyes started to itch and our mouths had the taste of bad oil). Next, I took this image:

The man on the fourth floor stands out to me but not to my lens. Way too wide for that – still, this is somewhat better than the previous two shots. I didn’t really want to take an image of the old man sitting at the bottom left of the frame. It is really not my style to be invasive without being social to people first and I was interested in the smoke (fixated really).

At that point, though (a good 3-4 minutes since the first frame shot), I was after a great image. So I took one of the old guy sitting down (I said hello first):

Better. This is a very good image but I wanted one where the smoke was more prominent. I knew I could create that image in my head if I just kept looking for it. So I walked a bit more. I still had my 17-40mm on the camera (I believe it or not, that was all I had with me) and got really close to the smokestack, regardless of my burning eyes and itchy skin.

But right underneath the smokestack, it became substantially more ominous and horrible and I instantly knew how I felt about it – confused and frightened. So I took this last shot and was really pleased with it.

It is an odd composition without a lot of “rules”, which I feel is reflected well in the chaotic nature of the wires and the industrialness of the location, even though there were children practically under my feet. Finally, I got my smoke!

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed that little meander through my shots. I like to think that turning my head inside out can give you a bit of insight into the creative process.

Here are the key ideas points covered in this article:

• Find a subject or scene that you are fascinated by.
• Work the scene until you have the best shot you can get.
• Move around!
• Be patient – wait for the best light, best weather, interesting people or expressions – whatever it takes.
• Have perseverance.
• Use your imagination to create narratives. Open up.

I would love to know if you found this process I go through to capture my shots useful? Does it help to see that we all take a bunch of boring shots? Taking photos is more than just pressing a shutter (anyone can do that), but an artist is something we all are inside and photography is our journey/path in finding that inner artist.

Please comment below and let me know what you have learned or how this might have helped you. Thanks!

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