God Made Morning Light for Photographers
I thought my friend was crazy. Wild horses weren’t going to get me up at 6am to go walking. She wasn’t only crazy, she was persistent. After three years she finally wore me down, and I agreed, only for three times a week, of course. What kind of torture would it be to roll out of bed while it was still dark on Thursdays?
I’ve been doing this for a few weeks, now, and am beginning to see some benefits other than stamina, weight loss and general self discipline. As we were driving home this morning, a strong, focused sun was just coming over the hills in the east. We drove past a row of what I would have taken for sunflowers, except they were pink. (And blooming in November – Sunflowers don’t usually do that.) They were about 7 feet high, and I was able to crouch down and take this photo with the early morning sky in the background. The intense sunlight acts like a spotlight in a studio, and shows every detail of these mysterious flowers.
I know all the photography books say morning light is best, but I hadn’t paid much attention. If that meant getting up early, I’d settle for second best, but I’m beginning to realize the difference is too significant to ignore. There’s a lot to be said for morning sun.
I’ll be getting up to take pictures early more often, even though a huge part of me still agrees with Garfield.
By the way, does anyone know what these flowers are? They’re large, about 8in. across, and were about 7 feet tall.