Natural Light (Part 1)

And Light was made on Earth. Know how to use it.


Capricious luminosity in the Grand Canyon
Localized moisture creates a rainbow in an area with distinct spots of light.
The biggest of the biggest
The Hellisheidi geothermal plant, the most powerful in the world, with a production capacity of 303 MW of electricity and 400 MW of hot water.
cows in fog
Cows bar the way to traffic in the fog from the top of the island.
From day to night
Sun sets west of Playa Benijo, southwest of Tenerife.
Sunset over Pacific Ocean
Catamaran passengers admire the distant sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
The theme of light in photography is inexhaustible. In this article, we give you some basic notions about your behavior, to start with, just and only in terms of geolocation, the time of day and the time of year.

It is probably not new: the term photograph originally means, from the Greek, to paint with light.

With more or less processing and more or less electronics, that's what any camera does.

Light in Photography is therefore crucial.

And if the selection of the situation or the scenery or landscape are important for that “painting”, the choice of light that illuminates them is equally important. After all, a good combination of these elements makes for the best photographs.

We know that light can be of natural or artificial origin. In this article, we're just going to dedicate ourselves to explaining to you three of the main variables that influence the greater hardness or softness of sunlight.

We start with four unavoidable notions about Light in Photography:

1- Light is made up of several wavelengths – dark blue; light blue; green yellow; Red; orange and its variants. These wavelengths and as such light change all the time.

The change is due to several factors but mainly due to the position of the sun in relation to the terrestrial horizon and to the weather.

2- The more oblique the sun is to the horizon, the softer and warmer the light. This is because the more oblique it is, the more atmosphere it has to pass through the sun's rays. 

The atmosphere scatters the bluish wavelengths of light and lets it pass in dust.dominating the reds and oranges.

3- Natural light with a predominance of “warm” tones (oranges and yellows) and little contrast – because it is very filtered by the atmosphere – is what we call soft.

It is, as a rule, the most valued for a wide range of photographic purposes. 

4 - The cloud layer blocks and “cools” light reaching the Earth's surface so everything you read below does not apply on foggy or overcast days.

Meteorology aside, let's see when we're supposed to have the softest and hardest light when it comes to:

time of day

On days with clear or slightly cloudy skies, shortly after sunrise and just before sunset, these are times when natural light will be softer and better. 

During and just after sunset, it is normal for the sky, the clouds (also its reflection in the water) to be covered with pink or magentas. Are colored by a kind of “remnants” of light direct of the sun.

À As the Earth rotates, these tones fade and are replaced by a darker and darker bluish, then dark.

On the contrary, the worst time to shoot in soft light will always be, by theory, midday and the remaining hours of the day when the sun is at its highest. 

Time of Year and Latitude 

The interaction of the height of the year or season of the year (Translation of the Earth) with the latitude makes the logic of the time of day much more complex than described above.

With the necessary caveat for the long winter in the Arctic and Antarctic extremes where sunlight is practically non-existent, the higher the Latitude (close to the poles) the smoother and better the natural light will be.

It's just not because these places have their own summer.

In the summer of the top and bottom of the Earth, sunlight falls directly on for many hours (less obliquely than at other times of the year). 

In the summer months of northern or southern places, the light is practically continuous (it can last up to 22, 23 hours a day in June in places like the Alaska, to Lapland or Tierra del Fuego).

If the sky is clear, it may happen that, at these times, several hours are of harsh light, too intense if, for example, it is reflected by snowy ground. 

On the other hand, many others will be of soft light since the sun remains for a long time low above the terrestrial horizon.

On the contrary, in Ecuador (0º latitude) and contiguous latitudes:

There are no seasons – there may be monsoons. Sunrise and sunset (approximately 6:18 and XNUMX:XNUMX) vary little.  

You can count on about 12h of daily light, a little more or less à As the latitude increases and the distance from that part of the Earth varies from the sun. 

Viewed in a simplified way: in equatorial or tropical areas directly exposed to the sun or in summer from intermediate latitudes, such as, for example, Portugal (or the Uruguay, in the Southern Hemisphere) the hours of the day with soft light are from shortly after dawn to 9:30 am or 10 am and from 15:30 pm to 16 pm at sunset.

And summarizing everything we saw above, following the same logic, a combination of latitude and height where we are guaranteed soft light will be, for example:

in the first days of the year – end of winter, in the higher boreal latitudes. In this case, the weak and short-lived sunlight increases significantly from day to day.

Altitude

The true color of the sky is black. During the day, we look at the sky illuminated and colored blue above all by the scattered bluish spectrum of sunlight.

Only à As altitude increases, the air becomes thinner. As it is more rarefied, it disperses less and less of this spectrum.

As a result, the sky becomes less blue and blacker. this can to affect the brightness of images that are underexposed (darkened).

The effect is perfectly visible at altitudes from 3.500 to 4.000 meters.

PRACTICAL CASES OF LIGHT MANAGEMENT IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Because they directly influence both the spectrum and duration of light as well as the weather, latitude and time of year are the first factors to influence the type of photographic work you will find on a given trip.

It is one thing to travel to the equator where the sun is guaranteed to rise around 6 am and set around 18 pm.

Another thing is traveling to the Iceland on June 20, when there is light 24 hours a day.

Thus, we have learned from experience that:

In equatorial and tropical countries

1- The ideal is to wake up as early as possible, preferably before sunrise and make the most of the soft light that goes from dawn to 9:30 am to photograph landscapes, scenery, situations, portraits in the softest possible light.

2 - From 11am onwards and until practically 16pm, except for some exceptional places, it will be difficult to continue to achieve this with good quality.

You can take advantage of this period to cover a dense tropical forest (the only time the light is likely to enter), certain specific alleys of a colonial city, images of translucent sea (better with the sun at full), closed markets or other interiors.

Otherwise, it's a good time to organize next days of work or rest.

3 - From 16 pm to 16:30 pm onwards is again a crucial time of day for good photographic work.

In the summer of a northern or southern country

1 – The fact that there is probably light 24 hours a day raises problems in the selection of work and rest times.

For a start, don't forget that the “time bands” of sunrise and sunset almost always create special luminosities.

Organize your work and rest time so that you are available for both.

2- If you have this privilege, guide your work according to the pleasure that the discovery is giving you.

In this type of geographical and seasonal framing, it is easy to find yourself physically on the skids without having taken advantage of the place without being “behind” the camera precisely because it went into “automatic mode” and photographs obsessively fascinated by the place.

3 – Another important issue: places located at high latitudes have complicated and unstable weather conditions.

Preferably, keep yourself with access to the Internet, informed about what is expected for each place and available to travel to the places where the best weather is expected.

4- Take advantage of periods of heavy and unequivocally long rain to rest.

The period of demobilization or storm relief almost always offers special luminosity.

Tokyo, Japan

Japanese Style Passaport-Type Photography

In the late 80s, two Japanese multinationals already saw conventional photo booths as museum pieces. They turned them into revolutionary machines and Japan surrendered to the Purikura phenomenon.
Natural Light (Part 2)

One Sun, So Many Lights

Most travel photos are taken in sunlight. Sunlight and weather form a capricious interaction. Learn how to predict, detect and use at its best.
Jaffa, Israel

Where Tel Aviv Settles Always in Party

Tel Aviv is famous for the most intense night in the Middle East. But, if its youngsters are having fun until exhaustion in the clubs along the Mediterranean, it is more and more in the nearby Old Jaffa that they tie the knot.
Chã das Caldeiras, Fogo Island Cape Verde

A "French" Clan at the Mercy of Fire

In 1870, a Count born in Grenoble on his way to Brazilian exile, made a stopover in Cape Verde where native beauties tied him to the island of Fogo. Two of his children settled in the middle of the volcano's crater and continued to raise offspring there. Not even the destruction caused by the recent eruptions deters the prolific Montrond from the “county” they founded in Chã das Caldeiras.    
Passo do Lontra, Miranda, Brazil

The Flooded Brazil of Passo do Lontra

We are on the western edge of Mato Grosso do Sul but bush, on these sides, is something else. In an extension of almost 200.000 km2, the Brazil it appears partially submerged, by rivers, streams, lakes and other waters dispersed in vast alluvial plains. Not even the panting heat of the dry season drains the life and biodiversity of Pantanal places and farms like the one that welcomed us on the banks of the Miranda River.
Castro Laboreiro, Portugal  

From Castro de Laboreiro to Raia da Serra Peneda - Gerês

We arrived at (i) the eminence of Galicia, at an altitude of 1000m and even more. Castro Laboreiro and the surrounding villages stand out against the granite monumentality of the mountains and the Planalto da Peneda and Laboreiro. As do its resilient people who, sometimes handed over to Brandas and sometimes to Inverneiras, still call these stunning places home.
Big Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe, Endless Mystery

Between the 1500th and XNUMXth centuries, Bantu peoples built what became the largest medieval city in sub-Saharan Africa. From XNUMX onwards, with the passage of the first Portuguese explorers arriving from Mozambique, the city was already in decline. Its ruins, which inspired the name of the present-day Zimbabwean nation, have many unanswered questions.  
Izamal, Mexico

The Holy, Yellow and Beautiful Mexican City

Until the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, Izamal was a center of worship for the supreme Mayan god Itzamná and Kinich Kakmó, the one of the sun. Gradually, the invaders razed the various pyramids of the natives. In its place, they built a large Franciscan convent and a prolific colonial houses, with the same solar tone in which the now Catholic city shines.
Cape Coast, Ghana

The Divine Purification Festival

The story goes that, once, a plague devastated the population of Cape Coast of today Ghana. Only the prayers of the survivors and the cleansing of evil carried out by the gods will have put an end to the scourge. Since then, the natives have returned the blessing of the 77 deities of the traditional Oguaa region with the frenzied Fetu Afahye festival.
Fish River Canyon, Namíbia

The Namibian Guts of Africa

When nothing makes you foreseeable, a vast river ravine burrows the southern end of the Namíbia. At 160km long, 27km wide and, at intervals, 550 meters deep, the Fish River Canyon is the Grand Canyon of Africa. And one of the biggest canyons on the face of the Earth.
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
Annapurna Circuit: 2th - Chame a Upper BananaNepal

(I) Eminent Annapurnas

We woke up in Chame, still below 3000m. There we saw, for the first time, the snowy and highest peaks of the Himalayas. From there, we set off for another walk along the Annapurna Circuit through the foothills and slopes of the great mountain range. towards Upper Banana.
Jaisalmer, India

There's a Feast in the Thar Desert

As soon as the short winter breaks, Jaisalmer indulges in parades, camel races, and turban and mustache competitions. Its walls, alleys and surrounding dunes take on more color than ever. During the three days of the event, natives and outsiders watch, dazzled, as the vast and inhospitable Thar finally shines through.
Uzbekistan

Journey through the Uzbekistan Pseudo-Roads

Centuries passed. Old and run-down Soviet roads ply deserts and oases once traversed by caravans from the Silk RoadSubject to their yoke for a week, we experience every stop and incursion into Uzbek places, into scenic and historic road rewards.
Table Mountain, South Africa

At the Adamastor Monster Table

From the earliest times of the Discoveries to the present, Table Mountain has always stood out above the South African immensity South African and the surrounding ocean. The centuries passed and Cape Town expanded at his feet. The Capetonians and the visiting outsiders got used to contemplating, ascending and venerating this imposing and mythical plateau.
Florida Keys, USA

The Caribbean Stepping Stone of the USA

Os United States continental islands seem to close to the south in its capricious peninsula of Florida. Don't stop there. More than a hundred islands of coral, sand and mangroves form an eccentric tropical expanse that has long seduced American vacationers.
Dali, China

The Surrealist China of Dali

Embedded in a magical lakeside setting, the ancient capital of the Bai people has remained, until some time ago, a refuge for the backpacker community of travelers. The social and economic changes of China they fomented the invasion of Chinese to discover the southwest corner of the nation.
Bhaktapur, Nepal

The Nepalese Masks of Life

The Newar Indigenous People of the Kathmandu Valley attach great importance to the Hindu and Buddhist religiosity that unites them with each other and with the Earth. Accordingly, he blesses their rites of passage with newar dances of men masked as deities. Even if repeated long ago from birth to reincarnation, these ancestral dances do not elude modernity and begin to see an end.
Annapurna Circuit: 1th - Pokhara a ChameNepal

Finally, on the way

After several days of preparation in Pokhara, we left towards the Himalayas. The walking route only starts in Chame, at 2670 meters of altitude, with the snowy peaks of the Annapurna mountain range already in sight. Until then, we complete a painful but necessary road preamble to its subtropical base.
Easter Island, Chile

The Take-off and Fall of the Bird-Man Cult

Until the XNUMXth century, the natives of Easter Island they carved and worshiped great stone gods. All of a sudden, they started to drop their moai. The veneration of tanatu manu, a half-human, half-sacred leader, decreed after a dramatic competition for an egg.
Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Normatior Hill
Safari
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
shadow vs light
Architecture & Design
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Salto Angel, Rio that falls from the sky, Angel Falls, PN Canaima, Venezuela
Adventure
PN Canaima, Venezuela

Kerepakupai, Salto Angel: The River that Falls from Heaven

In 1937, Jimmy Angel landed a light aircraft on a plateau lost in the Venezuelan jungle. The American adventurer did not find gold but he conquered the baptism of the longest waterfall on the face of the Earth
Ceremonies and Festivities
Pueblos del Sur, Venezuela

The Pueblos del Sur Locainas, Their Dances and Co.

From the beginning of the XNUMXth century, with Hispanic settlers and, more recently, with Portuguese emigrants, customs and traditions well known in the Iberian Peninsula and, in particular, in northern Portugal, were consolidated in the Pueblos del Sur.
City of Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde
Cities
Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde

The Miracle of São Vicente

São Vicente has always been arid and inhospitable to match. The challenging colonization of the island subjected the settlers to successive hardships. Until, finally, its providential deep-water bay enabled Mindelo, the most cosmopolitan city and the cultural capital of Cape Verde.
young saleswoman, nation, bread, uzbekistan
Meal
Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, The Nation That Does Not Lack Bread

Few countries employ cereals like Uzbekistan. In this republic of Central Asia, bread plays a vital and social role. The Uzbeks produce it and consume it with devotion and in abundance.
Nahuatl celebration
Culture

Mexico City, Mexico

mexican soul

With more than 20 million inhabitants in a vast metropolitan area, this megalopolis marks, from its heart of zócalo, the spiritual pulse of a nation that has always been vulnerable and dramatic.

Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Sport
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
End of the day at the Teesta river dam lake in Gajoldoba, India
Traveling
Dooars India

At the Gates of the Himalayas

We arrived at the northern threshold of West Bengal. The subcontinent gives way to a vast alluvial plain filled with tea plantations, jungle, rivers that the monsoon overflows over endless rice fields and villages bursting at the seams. On the verge of the greatest of the mountain ranges and the mountainous kingdom of Bhutan, for obvious British colonial influence, India treats this stunning region by Dooars.
Promise?
Ethnic
Goa, India

To Goa, Quickly and in Strength

A sudden longing for Indo-Portuguese tropical heritage makes us travel in various transports but almost non-stop, from Lisbon to the famous Anjuna beach. Only there, at great cost, were we able to rest.
View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Exotic Signs of Life

Kronstadt Russia Autumn, owner of the Bouquet
History
Kronstadt, Russia

The Autumn of the Russian Island-City of All Crossroads

Founded by Peter the Great, it became the port and naval base protecting Saint Petersburg and northern Greater Russia. In March 1921, it rebelled against the Bolsheviks it had supported during the October Revolution. In this October we're going through, Kronstadt is once again covered by the same exuberant yellow of uncertainty.
PN Timanfaya, Mountains of Fire, Lanzarote, Caldera del Corazoncillo
Islands
PN Timanfaya, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

PN Timanfaya and the Fire Mountains of Lanzarote

Between 1730 and 1736, out of nowhere, dozens of volcanoes in Lanzarote erupted successively. The massive amount of lava they released buried several villages and forced almost half of the inhabitants to emigrate. The legacy of this cataclysm is the current Martian setting of the exuberant PN Timanfaya.
Geothermal, Iceland Heat, Ice Land, Geothermal, Blue Lagoon
Winter White
Iceland

The Geothermal Coziness of the Ice Island

Most visitors value Iceland's volcanic scenery for its beauty. Icelanders also draw from them heat and energy crucial to the life they lead to the Arctic gates.
Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Literature
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
Street Scene, Guadeloupe, Caribbean, Butterfly Effect, French Antilles
Nature
Guadalupe, French Antilles

Guadeloupe: a Delicious Caribbean, in a Counter Butterfly-Effect

Guadeloupe is shaped like a moth. A trip around this Antille is enough to understand why the population is governed by the motto Pas Ni Problem and raises the minimum of waves, despite the many setbacks.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
mini-snorkeling
Natural Parks
Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

Back to Danny Boyle's The Beach

It's been 15 years since the debut of the backpacker classic based on the novel by Alex Garland. The film popularized the places where it was shot. Shortly thereafter, the XNUMX tsunami literally washed some away off the map. Today, their controversial fame remains intact.
Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira, Azores, from historic capital to World Heritage, urban art
UNESCO World Heritage
Angra do Heroismo, Terceira (Azores), Azores

Heroina do Mar, from Noble People, Brave and Immortal City

Angra do Heroísmo is much more than the historic capital of the Azores, Terceira Island and, on two occasions, Portugal. 1500km from the mainland, it gained a leading role in Portuguese nationality and independence that few other cities can boast.
female and cub, grizzly footsteps, katmai national park, alaska
Characters
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
Surf Lesson, Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii
Beaches
Waikiki, OahuHawaii

The Japanese Invasion of Hawaii

Decades after the attack on Pearl Harbor and from the capitulation in World War II, the Japanese returned to Hawaii armed with millions of dollars. Waikiki, his favorite target, insists on surrendering.
Composition on Nine Arches Bridge, Ella, Sri Lanka
Religion
Yala NPElla-Kandy, Sri Lanka

Journey Through Sri Lanka's Tea Core

We leave the seafront of PN Yala towards Ella. On the way to Nanu Oya, we wind on rails through the jungle, among plantations in the famous Ceylon. Three hours later, again by car, we enter Kandy, the Buddhist capital that the Portuguese never managed to dominate.
Serra do Mar train, Paraná, airy view
On Rails
Curitiba a Morretes, Paraná, Brazil

Down Paraná, on Board the Train Serra do Mar

For more than two centuries, only a winding and narrow road connected Curitiba to the coast. Until, in 1885, a French company opened a 110 km railway. We walked along it to Morretes, the final station for passengers today. 40km from the original coastal terminus of Paranaguá.
Street Bar, Fremont Street, Las Vegas, United States
Society
Las Vegas, USA

The Sin City Cradle

The famous Strip has not always focused the attention of Las Vegas. Many of its hotels and casinos replicated the neon glamor of the street that once stood out, Fremont Street.
Daily life
Arduous Professions

the bread the devil kneaded

Work is essential to most lives. But, certain jobs impose a degree of effort, monotony or danger that only a few chosen ones can measure up to.
savuti, botswana, elephant-eating lions
Wildlife
Savuti, Botswana

Savuti's Elephant-Eating Lions

A patch of the Kalahari Desert dries up or is irrigated depending on the region's tectonic whims. In Savuti, lions have become used to depending on themselves and prey on the largest animals in the savannah.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.