A Tough Day for Instructing

We can't always choose our day or time to go out and shoot, sometimes we go when the client can make it, and that often means a daytime shoot in uncertain conditions.  It's easy to be negative about this and feel you can't make any good shots because midday light is horrible, but that's not the case.   

You can always find something to shoot, and if you maintain that mentality instead of the negative one you will find images out there. You need to focus on what is possible given the conditions, rather than what you could do 'if only'. 

Most of all you need to work hard on your composition, when the light is bad, good composition will save you. You can't make a silk purse from a sows ear, as the saying goes; but you can turn in a good image or two by remembering the rules of composition and applying them appropriately.  

The image below shows the Wedge Pond beside highway 40 in Kananaskis at 2 pm on a bright sunny afternoon earlier this week.  We walked around the waters edge and then waited in a known spot for the wind to drop, during that time I talked about what I was seeing and envisaging, what light is better here and why.  I talked about techniques and tools and answered questions about composition. when suddenly a brief calm fell across the pond.  I crouched down and made two images to demonstrate the symmetrical composition I was making and we nailed it before the wind returned just a minute or so later.  

So, don't give up on harsh daylight, just trust yourself to apply your knowledge of composition to find the images that are out there.