One of the constant challenges photographers are faced with is knowing when is the best time of day for landscape photography to capture amazing images.
To get the best out of landscape photography it helps if you are an early riser to catch the sunrise!
Before the dawn breaks aim to arrive at your chosen location at least 45 minutes before the sun is due to rise so that you can find the best position and set up your camera and tripod.
It’s best if there are clouds in the sky with a clear horizon, as this will increase your chances for the clouds to light up with colour, giving a more dramatic scene.
This will happen anytime between 30 minutes to just before the sun breaks the horizon.
You won’t have much of a time frame to work, as peak colour normally only lasts about 10 minutes at the most.
Dress according to the weather so that you can relax and enjoy your photography, but don’t get out by how quickly the temperature can change around dawn.
Get exploring to judge the right time for the scene
Find time to explore your favourite landscape locations first.
To avoid shooting from one viewpoint where everyone else has captured the same shot, be creative and explore the location fully before deciding where to set up.
Different locations and compositions will lend themselves to being photographed at different times of days.
The strength and position of available light, together with the season and your composition all affect the best time of day for landscape photography.
Therefore, do revisit locations to learn what you have taken before as the way the light, weather and seasons can change a scene ensures that you will never get the same result twice even if you revisit the location.
Use handy tools such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris, Photopills, or Google Earth, which will help you learn about the landscape and terrain before you visit and in particular street view can prove an added bonus.
The beauty of soft light – the best time for landscape photography?
Experiencing the beauty of a sunrise is of one of a landscape photographer’s favourite times of the day.
At the start of the day the light is softer and more atmospheric because the sun is lower in the sky.
From the rolling countryside to a sweeping coastline there are many different types of landscape where you can capture the calm stillness of a new day.
Nothing transforms your shots as much as great light. You will need to develop an understanding of light and how it is a key factor for the best time of day for landscape photography.
This will come with experience and helping you make the most of every sunrise opportunity.
Sunrise brings the chance to really engage with nature and learn about the importance of light and as well as sunset these times of day are known as the ‘golden hours’. Each sunrise is different and the changing seasons will offer a different light, tone and colour in a landscape to create a unique atmosphere and mood.
These are the perfect times to use a tripod as the light levels will be low so you will need to use slow shutter speeds.
The use of a strong ND grad will balance the exposure as the main difficulty will be keeping the detail in the brightest area of the sky to avoid it resulting in an image being over exposed.
Create sunbursts
Create sunburstsWhen shooting at sunrise the sun will be extremely bright when it is just above the horizon and it can make it extra difficult even though the overall light will be soft and colourful.
To overcome this and produce a stunning effect, one simple technique is to create a sunburst.
If you position yourself so that the sun is partially concealed by something, or shoot when the sun is just peeking over the horizon line, set the aperture to either f/16 or f/22 and the bright light will be captured as a star.
The coast at sunrise
The ‘golden hour’ and the soft light is the ideal time to capture the calm serenity of a new dawn and the coast is a good place to get started if you are fortunate to live not too far.
Long exposures shot in the low light of early morning can result in an atmospheric way to capture crashing waves and if you want a good depth of field an exposure of several seconds or even minutes is needed.
If you want to capture the explosion of waves crashing against rocks it is possible to freeze the action of water.
However, unless your wave has a nice shape this often gives the image a very motionless feel and the results do not look very good.
A better option is to use an exposure of around 1/4 sec which is just slow enough to record a slight movement in the wave but fast enough to freeze the action.
It is important to remember when using long exposures to shoot the tide when it is receding as if the tide is advancing you will constantly have to move your tripod to avoid the approaching water.
You can make full use of the water’s ebb and flow without getting distracted if you are able to time shooting for when the tide is on the turn.
Water reflections and the best time of day for landscape photography
W have talked earlier about how for some scenes sunrise can be the best time of day for landscape photography.
Sunrise is also the ideal time to capture reflections too, as the light is clear and normally the wind is lighter meaning with still water you get better reflections.
Using this technique, you can capture colour patterns in the water and fill the frame with orange hues and wonderful colours.
Water left in rock pools is more likely to be calm and ripple free and capturing reflections overall brings a clarity and stillness to the final image.
So if you are shooting in a location where you want to incorporate water reflections into your composition then best to get on location early in the morning ready for sunrise.
If you are not an early riser, winter can be the ideal season for photographing at a more sociable time of day – you will just need to dress for the conditions, but thats the trade off!
Sunrise over the moors
Other landscapes such as rolling fields and hills, as well as vast open moor and heathlands can offer inspiring photo opportunities at sunrise.
Dark purple heather clad moorlands can provide a dramatic colourful backdrop to the sun emerging over the horizon.
If you are in the UK, we are fortunate to have some very dramatic scenery in the North York Moors, Peak District and the Lake District, which combined with shooting at the best time of day for landscape photography, can produce fantastic results.