Dear friends: Bright Sun, especially blasting at the top of our heads in summer at mid-day is not a friendly source of light for the photographer. This particularly applies to Portraiture and nature photography on Flowers, plants and trees. Such a light generates immense amounts of Contrast, i.e. the difference between Highlights (Brighter areas) and Shadows (darker areas). There are totally blown up white blobs, extremely Bright, very bright, bright, and lesser Bright areas as well as totally dark, extremely Dark, very dark, dark and lesser dark areas. If you pick out the acceptable and useful bright and similar darker segments in the image, they are far apart and therefore, cannot fit in an image to give a proper exposure. You may also be reminded that the harmful Ultraviolet rays of the sun are at their highest concentration between 10am and 4 pm. So it is a good idea to avoid those hours outdoors in the sun.

In such a contrasty scene, as I described above, the Film or sensor cannot accommodate those shades to deliver a properly balanced exposure in an image. Only a limited amount of these "Light Values" with a satisfactory exposure can be housed at a time. And a good Exposure usually means: not too bright and not too dark. But, it has to look "Just Right," to the eyes of the photographer, as she/he may prefer a lighter or darker tone.

Now, what is the magic about a cloudy day for nature photography? The light on a cloudy day is soft, gentle and unlike the harsh sun, it produces a decreased contrast with harmonious and homogeneous tones, so that more useful data can be accommodated in an image. On a cloudy overcast day, the blue of the spectrum may seep through the clouds on to the land giving a bluish tint to the image. This can be very easily overcome during post-processing, which I prefer doing, or by pre-selecting a White Balance in the camera before pressing the shutter button.

The celebrated pre-sunrise and post-sunset "magic hour" for most photography is widely accepted. At those times,the sun is at or near the horizon and its rays have to traverse through the denser lower earth's atmosphere where there are dust, gases and pollutants. The blue rays of the light's spectrum are scattered away and mainly the spectacular yellow, orange and red are passed through to earth. And therefore, we see the colorful and dramatic colors on the land, waters, mountains, snows and the sky. Light at these times is not harsh, intense or contrasty and it is easy and a delight to do photography.

The "magic hour" may not be suitable for some nature photography subjects e.g. flowers, plants and trees, because the greens or flowers get unnatural yellow or orange colors. For these, the cloudy days are the best.

During direct sunlight, you may use a Diffuser Screen (by Photoflex etc.) to shade the flower from sun's intense and harsh rays. In human portraits, this or "fill flash" technique may be attempted.

If you have any questions or need further understanding, please ask on my website, in COMMENTS area.

More new images will be added with time. Thank you. Best wishes. JARIS