IN THE FIELD: Magical Light
Although I don’t have a favorite time of the day to be out shooting, I am drawn to morning sunlight. Early in the morning, the light is on the cooler side of the spectrum. By about mid-morning the light has warmed up to a point somewhere between the cool light of early morning and the harsh bright light of mid-day.
However, afternoon light ain’t too shabby either. Later in the day, the color temperature of sunlight changes from bright harsh light at mid-day to the warmer, cozier side of the color spectrum. There are situations I find shooting in the afternoon to be better for a particular location.
This past weekend, we took the dogs to a park in the city for a morning adventure. It is a relaxing place to go for a walk, as there are pathways meandering through various perennial gardens. This is definitely not a time to leave the camera at home or in the car. Plants are blooming profusely with the accelerated spring weather we have had here.
One of the garden areas was planted in multiple plots, each about five feet square with pathways in between. This gave me the luxury to walk around all four sides of each one, looking for the best compositions and lighting.
These lupines were backlit by the early morning sun, and I was able to position myself to capture the magical light as it glowed through the flower petals.
David Heilman 
Great photo, David. I, too, sometimes like back-lit flowers. But, having said that, as you know I haven’t photographed too many flowers lately. 🙂
Thanks Bob, well I think you are keeping us more than satisfied with your avian photography!!!
Beautiful shot, David! They glow in that light, don’t they?
Thanks Ted , yes they sure do glow! They were like beacons in the garden!!
Lupins already? Gorgeous with the sun through them. 🙂
Yes things are really accelerated over here. Even the peonies are finished for the most part!
This photo is so lovely!
Thank you Karen, this was the only group that was blooming but I’m hoping there will be more later this week!
The light master strikes again. 🙂
Light master…you’re funny. Thanks T. An hour later they would have been in the shade from the giant trees nearby.
Very pretty! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Allthings, I guess by now you’ve noticed I have a thing for flowers LOL.
That’s perfect use of the light! Lovely!
Thanks Montucky, we had taken the pups back to the Jeep for water when I turned around and saw the light on the garden…had to go back to shoot the lupines!
Absolutely beautiful – I would imagine the exposure for this was quite tricky.
Thanks Jo, this one worked out pretty well. The exposure wasn’t to bad…I metered off the closest plant, and then under-exposed about a third of a stop to hold back some of the highlights. Then hoped for the best…I just looked, and that frame was the only one I took of that composition.
Gorgeous! Gorgeous! Gorgeous!
😀 Thanks for photographing it so magically!
Thank you Nandini for the kind words!!! It has become one of my favorites this year!
I don’t know if I should have asked you first, but this photo is currently sitting as a wallpaper on my phone. And I’m loving it! My phone is shining, magically! 😀
Indeed, the light is very nice.
Thanks Cornel, the flowers are really pretty when the light shines through them!
I’m partial to afternoon light over morning light myself, but that has more to do with the fact I like sleeping in than any objective judgement about its quality!
Oh I know what you mean…nothing better than waking up when your finished sleeping rather than to a stinkin’ alarm!!!
This is wonderful, David. the lighting is definitely spot on!
I find that the early morning light is much more forgiving for floral shots (if you can wake up early enough), although I have to admit, most of my flower photos were taken in the afternoon.
Getting up early is a pain…I have two canine alarm clocks that make it easier though.
I honestly have no preference to morning or afternoon light because each type of light has it’s own qualities that I enjoy.
Beautiful light and colours. I love lupins!
Yes I do too…we stayed in a cottage in Maine once and about half of the property was covered with them! It was stunning!
Great shot of the backlit lupines! Such a pretty and rich pink. I need to get seeds for that color. I have purple, blue, white, but no pink.
Thanks Fergie, I have to find some seeds somewhere because I would love to plant them all over our hill to keep out the weeds!
Wow, gorgeous capture, David! This is perfect!
Wow thanks Donna! I rarely ever say anything like this, but I am really happy with this one! I’ll be heading over to these gardens tomorrow afternoon/evening to see what else is blooming!
My goodness, what beautiful work you do! Have really enjoyed perusing your blog!
anne
Thank you Anne, glad you have been enjoying yourself. I’ve been on a floral kick lately compiling additional images for the next book. There will be new subjects shortly!
Beautiful!!
Thank you, the light was really nice that morning!
Wow, just beautiful! You need to save this one for your next book!
Thanks Tricia, it will be included. Funny thing…Sharon now has to revise all the spring photos for the book because I keep adding shots. I can’t help it!! I wonder what she will do about summer…uh oh…
Gorgeous colors and lighting!
Thanks Sunset, I’m really happy with this one. The light that morning was wonderful. The air was cool but the sun felt warm. A perfect spring morning!