Daylight photography : skylight vs sunlight

For those with an interest in nature photography, a solid starting point to help nurture that interest is with a basic understanding of daylight photography. Specifically, we’re interested in light quality and the elements determining that quality.

In photography, light is our number one friend. It makes the difference between good photography and great photography, easily separating our image library into one and five star categories. With a bit of forehand knowledge, we can be confident going into the field that our understanding of light increases our likelihood of beautiful photography.

The two main types of outdoor light that affect outdoor photography are skylight and sunlight. DIstinctly different in the type of light quality they provide, each has its advantages. Each has its limitations. These two types of light also help determine intensity, direction, and color of light. This ultimately will affect how our subject matter appears.

One of the greatest technical challenges in photography is controlling the differing contrasts created by skylight and sunlight. Learning to correctly see and judge light will help in our ability to control that contrast. Consider skylight and sunlight to be your primary light tools as you learn how to use them.

Skylight is a softer light than sunlight and is associated with cloud cover. Fog, mist, haze, and air pollution can also create various types of skylight. It is a non-directional type of light, generally known as overhead light. Shadows lack definition and are considered to be soft shadows. Lighting is diffused, soft, and the light color is cool. An example of this cool color is the bluish cast in photographs taken on a cloudy day.

This soft light creates muted highlights, producing heavily saturated colors that make it the ideal light for recording fine details. Consider using it when doing close-up photography of flowers.

When using sunlight in our photography, we deal with a light source whose intensity is continuously changing, determined by its position or angle in the sky. It is a brighter light than skylight and is generally considered to be warm. In fact, sun’s first and last light of day are often referred to as sweet light, as it is at these times that the sun can provide a wonderful golden color to the scene.

Sunlight is considered a harsh or hard light because it produces well-defined shadows and intense highlights. If you take a photograph in sunlight at midday during the summer months you discover it is a harsh light, one to be avoided as much as possible.

Because of its harsh quality, take care when using it as a frontal light source. It will flatten out your image, eliminating shadows and contrast. It is unflattering and is a seldom used style for dramatic photography.

Sunlight’s continuous changing position creates several lighting possibilities that we can use to our advantage.

Also known as edge lighting or rim lighting, side lighting is a dramatic type of lighting.  Placing the sun at right angles of the lens-camera axis helps create highlights along one edge of our primary subject matter.  This in turn creates heavy shadows, making for a contrasty scene.  If the shadow area is too strong, consider using a reflector of sorts.  This can be a natural reflector such as a wall, rock, or building.  There are also a variety of man-made reflectors on the market, helping control your shadows and contrast.

Back lighting is another form of dramatic lighting that can be used to improve your daylight photography.  Subject matter with vivid colors work well with back lighting.  Be careful to shield your lens from the sun when using backlighting.  As with side lighting, some form of fill light may be necessary to help with contrast control.