Right Place, Right Time
Note from Greg: This month, you’ll be hearing from Paul, the second Benson at Benson Photo. His visual sense and creative spirit drive his photography work, whether it’s editing, set assisting, drone piloting, or being a fantastic second shooter.
Photographing at different times of day has advantages and disadvantages that will shift depending on several variables. Among those, Greg and I typically evaluate the location first. For instance, north facing façades sometimes look less visually interesting in a daytime shoot, due to a lack of direct sunlight. When assigned to photograph such a building, we’ll shoot at twilight to add some drama and interest to offset the inherent shadow.
Daylight illuminates the external features of this building, but it also creates shadows.
Shooting the same building at twilight eliminates those shadows in favor of glowing city lights.
Of course, twilight shooting isn’t exclusive to north-facing buildings, as it can be a spicy addition to any kind of architectural shoot in need of an extra kick.
A twilight shot not only brings a more vibrant sky, but it also allows interior details to shine.
Another factor we consider when scheduling shoot time is the assignment itself. Recently, we shot exterior fixtures for ANP, a lighting company, at the Northbank development. A nighttime shot would illustrate the utility of the lights at night, but it was also crucial to show the product itself in detail in the daylight. Shooting at two different times helped us showcase the fixtures in more than one way.
Time for a drone closeup: daytime to show the fixtures, and nighttime to highlight the glow.
Seasonal changes affect the amount of daylight as well as the angle of the sun, not to mention the general appearance of plant life. Springtime brings new life to places that looked less welcoming in the winter. That said, winter shoots can still have their moment in the sun, so to speak. A fresh coat of snow shines even more brightly on a sunny day.
Sometimes it makes more sense to shoot at dawn than at sunset. In the case of this Giant, the building faces east, making the lighting at sunrise more appropriate. It also helped that there were no customers or traffic to worry about at the early hour.
Golden hour isn’t limited to sunsets and can be just as fleeting at sunrise.
These were shot at 6:50 AM and 7:20 AM, respectively.
Golden hour is maybe the most elusive time of day, but it almost always makes for good results. A crucial part of what we do is analyzing the weather for each job, particularly the cloud cover percentage. Even paying as much attention as we do, the results can always vary. Sometimes a cloudy day turns out to be perfect lighting, but if not, we’ll reschedule and try again.