Are you taking personal, family directed pictures while on vacation? I live in Niagara Falls and I see thousands upon thousands of “photographers” in Niagara taking pictures of everything they see. Most of the, the vast majority, are taking the family “here’s what I saw” pictures. The relation of light, shadows, contrasts and depth of field are not issues. In fact I would surmise that 95% of these folks don’t know or care about all this camera/photography tech talk.

So this article isn’t for you. There are lots of articles here that are for you, just not this one.

If you are interested in taking visually good to great pictures, no matter how much experience you have in photography, then this article is definitely for you.

Light is probably the most important aspect of photography. But not just any old light. The right light. If you love the great outdoors and often takes pictures of scenic destinations, or landscapes, then understanding sunlight and its relationship to your photo, you will become a much happier “picture taker”.

This is not intended to be a technical how-to, but instead a “here’s what to look for and do” to take better pictures. Morning and evening are the best times to take pictures, 90% of the time. Of course there are exceptions, but I’ll stay with morning and night for this discussion. As the sun comes up in the east, and goes down in the west, it is low in the sky and that means the sun is at an angle. This provides us with shadow details, which in turn creates depth to your picture. Also, have you noticed that sun rising or lowering in the sky causes colour changes, thus is more dramatic. During the day, with the sun higher in the sky, it is more of a flat look, through your lens and even in the eye.

So, back on track. If you are close to your landscape subject, like I am everyday if I want to shoot Niagara Falls, looking out your window or checking the weather the night before a shoot is about all you need to do to see if the weather is going to cooperate. But if you have to drive, or trek a mile or two, you need to be aware of sunrise and sunset times, and of course the azimuth at these times (the angle of the sun from due north in a clockwise direction). Therefore the most dramatic landscape shots are during the early morning and late afternoon/evening because, remember this, photography is all about light.

Resources:
The Navel Oceanography Portal (http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services) is a great resource for photographers.
Timne and date.com (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/aboutastronomy.html) is another excellent free source for landscape photographers.
Stephen Trainor’s site, Stephen Trainor Photography has a free piece of software for Mac/Windows/Linux, just for photographers. Again it’s about the sun and other things that help you to take better pictures. Go grab it at http://stephentrainor.com/tools.

This T-Mount allows you to attach your Pentax K Mount DSLR /SLR camera to lenses, telescopes, microscopes, enlargers, and bellows attachments that have T-Mount threa

Go ahead and feed your photography obsession with the PENTAX K-5.  For you, capturing that great shot isn't a casual interest. It's a part of your life. One spectacular image after another. This camera is the perfect piece of equipment to help you get your photo fix. With the compact, rugged K-5, the world is truly your studio.

Go ahead and feed your photography obsession with the PENTAX K-5.  For you, capturing that great shot isn't a casual interest. It's a part of your life. One spectacular image after another. This camera is the perfect piece of equipment to help you get your photo fix. With the compact, rugged K-5, the world is truly your studio.

Designed for exclusive use with Pentax KAF-mount digital SLR cameras including the *ist D and the *ist DS digital SLRs, the Pentax DA L 50-200mm f4-5.6 ED lens offers 4x zoom coverage in the telephoto range. Further, the lens features an angle of view from 31.5 degrees to 8.1 degrees (equivalent in focal length from 76.5mm to 306mm in the 35mm format). Packaged in a white kit box.