Does the time of day really matter??

You have finally decided you are ready to have a photographer take your picture. You have been tossing the idea around for a while now and you finally committed. You contact the photographer and you start talking about locations and ideas. You decide you want to schedule. The photographer says great! Here are my open days: Saturday at 5pm, Thursday at 4pm etc. You realize everything the photographer is offering is in the evening....but you were hoping to get this off your checklist for the day earlier so you could get back to your day. So why does the photographer insist on doing this so late in the afternoon?!?!

This is a question many clients ask. We all have a busy life, especially on the weekends that stopping our day to get ready for pictures seems almost a hassle- until you understand your photographer is choose the time of day that you will actually look your best in! How can that be you ask...allow me to explain.

When doing outdoor photography you don't have lights set up in a controlled environment like you do in an indoor environment. Your only natural source for light is the SUN. So the sun and the time of day plays a huge role when scheduling a session. If you live in Florida where the sun can be extremely HOT this is another factor to consider.

Since the sun is our source of light we have to think about the location the sun will be in a certain times of day. Since the sun is so powerful it can be blinding at times. This is why we want to choose a time of day that the sun is less powerful and won't cause you to squint your eyes the whole time you are getting your picture taken. This would not make for a great image.

In addition to squinting, you have to think about shadows. Shadows are tricky little things that can change the way a person looks. For example, if you shine light above me (say high noon) then there will be a shadow cast  own my face. This will make my eyes look extremely dark and as if I have circles under my eyes or that I am tired. As a female, we definitely do not want this. It is not flattering at all. If you have the light coming across your face, then your nose will cast a shadow on your face and may cause your nose to look bigger than it really is.

As a photographer, we actually fine there are two idea times of day to have a session. 1. is right at sunrise. Many clients are not up to getting up that early but the sun is beautiful this time of day and the shots can be amazing.

2. The other idea time is right before sunset. This gives the sun a warm glow to your images and your clients.

The sun is usually behind your subject so there is no chance of them being blinded by the sun, having to squint or having weird shadows show up.

The final reason the time of day is important is the temperature of the day. Many times here in FL you will find that the middle of the afternoon is the hottest time of day. The sun is beating down on you and you begin to sweat. Most of us sweat on our faces. So now we have sweaty faces for our images- not good. This can cause you to look shinny or wet. We also don't want sweat spots showing up in other areas of our bodies too. ;)

If you want to watch an interesting video about how the light affects and egg, take a look here.

I hope this helps in helping you decide a time that works for you and your photographer. At the end of the day I want you to have the best images, with the right lighting, so that your features are enhanced and that we are comfortable and not too hot.