Looking to take the best photos to capture summer memories and to post to social media accounts?
Follow these 10 tips:
1. Get up early or stay up late
Sunrise and sunset are the best time for photography, especially during summertime, when the “magic hours” can start well before dawn and extend late into the evening. Locations near water are ideal for these type of shoots, because the water will mirror the sky and give you a dynamic background.
2. Evening golden hour is best
Sunrises are special, but evening golden hours usually provider warmer light because it is scattered and diffused by the thicker atmosphere. That’s why the sun often looks bigger at sunset than at sunrise. With lengthening shadows in the foreground creating interesting shapes, a sunset can look stunning. For a sunrise or sunset, use as long a telephoto lens as you have to exaggerate the size of the sun.
3. Work in the blue hour, too
There’s night photography -- when the sky is black and the stars are out -- and then there’s twilight, or blue hour photography. It’s that crossover time between sunset and darkness when there is still color in the sky. It also happens before dawn. This is a great time to balance man-made illumination -- cityscapes, long-exposure car headlights -- and a colorful sky.
4. Work with shapes
Once the golden hours are over, the sun gets high in the sky quickly, creating harsh light and dark, dense shadows. This kind of light isn’t flattering for portraits or landscapes, but cityscapes can pop against a bright blue sky. Buildings, bridges and other man-made structures can create strong, visually interesting images on a clear summer’s day, so head to the city and experiment with unusual viewpoints and wide-angle lenses to create dynamic compositions.
5. Polarizers are your friends
This tip gets into a little bit of techy-talk, but it’s not scary. Polarizers are filters that screw onto the end of your lens. They’ll help your summer shots by deepening blues, reducing glare and lessening the effects of haze. Circular polarizers are a good filter for most beginning photographers to invest in first.
Credit: Cultura RM Exclusive/Christin Ro
Credit: Cultura RM Exclusive/Christin Ro
6. Shoot in the shade
While the light outside is harsh, the light left in the shade can be flattering for portraits and still life shots. Portraits benefit from being shot in the shade because you’ll avoid ugly shadows being cast under noses and in eye sockets. Holding something above your subject’s head will work too -- a diffusing screen if you have one, an umbrella if you don’t.
7. Flower power
Photographing flowers can be a fun exercise in capturing colors and shapes. For closer than your average close-ups, try a a macro lens to capture the delicate details. A zoom lens will also be ideal for shooting large drifts of flowers. The compressed perspective will make the flowers appear crowded together, while shooting at a wide aperture will allow you to isolate one single bloom from its surroundings.
8. Stalking silhouettes
With the bright sunbeams filling the sky, placing a solid object between you and a bright background can quickly make a great silhouette. The object could be anything -- Try playing with different shapes, but easily identifiable shapes are often best to start with. With a fiery sunrise or sunset, the summer sun sitting low in the sky or shimmering highlights on water in the background, you’ve got the makings of a good image.
9. Whether the weather
While blue skies and sunshine are to be expected, a summer thunderstorm can create a dynamic scene to capture. Dark skies, bolts of lightning, and the following rainbows and shafts of sunlight as the storm breaks up can make for wonderful photography. Be safe, grab your camera and head out.
10. Take advantage of the beach
Beaches seem like they might be stereotypical summer shooting ground, but on the right beach, the subjects are endless. Colorful beach huts against the blue sky, backlit deckchairs on the beach, kids playing in the water, boats and windsurfers for action -- a good beach will have it. Try getting a waterproof or water resistant camera if you’re going to be shooting near the waves.
About the Author
