Harsh Light Photography — Shooting in the Daytime
Harsh light photography, bemoaned by amateur and professional photographers alike. Here are several reasons you should go outside and bathe in the sunshine.
What is Harsh Light?
Harsh light photography is a situation in which the highlights and blacks within a scene are spaced out. In other terms, the contrast is harsh — there’s a hard line between light and shadow. Photographers often associate it with when the sun is higher in the sky. Correspondingly, look outside during a cloudless day. Light is harsh and directional and shadows are long and defined.
Depending on what type of photographer you are, how you respond to harsh light differs: a portrait photographer has to manage single-shot photography and avoid hard lines on their clients’ faces. Architecture and landscape photographers have to deal with flat daytime light that causes detail loss.
And so, how do we navigate these issues?
Quick Tip: If you are a single-shot photographer, always shoot for the highlights — over-exposed highlights are easier to turn down than under-exposed shadows, especially if you use muted blacks in your style already!
