I Wouldn't Give You the Time of Day

I Wouldn't Give You the Time of Day

With many subjects, the time of day you choose to photograph can be important. Landscape and (outdoor) wedding photography can be very difficult to shoot in the middle of the day because the sunlight is so strong it creates strong shadows. We have all taken pictures of people in sunlight where the eyes are two dark (and probably squinty) holes. How would you like the challenge of filming a wedding on a day like that?

With the cherry blossoms, however, time of day or even the type of weather doesn't matter much. Except for wind. Forget it if the day is windy. All you are going to do is get yourself thoroughly frustrated. If the general light is low or cloudy, you can shoot on the outside edges of the trees where there is more available light. Just watch out for hot spots within the frame that can draw attention away from the main subject.

Try to use as small an aperture as you can get away with. Aperture is directly related to shutter speed. With a smaller aperture, more of the picture will be sharp, but you will also have to use a slower shutter speed. Too slow a shutter speed, however, and you take the chance your hand will shake or even the slightest breeze will show up in the photo as slight blurring.

If it is a bright, sunny day, then I would move in under the tree and shoot the blossoms in the shade. This filtered light with no shadows is actually ideal for filming blooms. While this gray background is not very exciting, it is still preferable to a busy background. 

Some photographers have the ability to think in black and white and go looking for subjects that would transform effectively from color to grayscale. While I could probably do that, it takes a little bit of retraining of your thinking to see like that and I am just not that into it. But, I do occasionally consider whether a photo would make a good conversion to black and white after the fact. When you shoot in the RAW format, even if you are photographing in black and white, it captures a color file which has to be converted later. So, evaluating photos in color after the fact, seems a little easier to me. I think this photo would probably make a good grayscale image. In grayscale, shape and tone takes a front seat to color.