Do you only photograph in "good" light?

[paulfish4570]

all light is good for photography. some light is gooder than others ...

[Fawley]

It looks like most people will make do with whatever the weather dishes out. I once went to a talk by a photojournalist that almost never used flash. His motto was "if you can see it, you can shoot it".
I shoot in all light too but I do prefer a little bit of hard lighting, maybe because here in the Pacific Northwest we almost never get it. Some shots just won't look good in flat dull light no matter how much you push film, so you just have to choose different subjects on those days. On the other hand, a rainy day can be great for street shooting with TriX @1600.

[Araakii]

I wait for "good light" for personal work, but for events and stuff, we got to shoot regardless of what the light is.

[intheviewfinder]

One of my rules...
There’s no such thing as bad light (or, there are 23 other hours in the day).

--Rich

[jsrockit]

I had a feeling most RF users would photograph in any light. Glad to hear it. Now if it is your job and the right light is necessary, I can see that too.

[daveleo]

I avoid harsh sunlight, as I don't know how to handle that and ever get good (by my standards) results.

I would just say that I take extremely few photos on bright days from 10AM through 4PM because the light is horrid for what I want to record.

The one glaring exception was a family wedding I was forced to shoot at midday on a beach. I sat down with the groom weeks earlier and told him I didn't want the assignment and the pictures would suck enormously. Long story short, I shot it in harsh daylight using a flash to smooth out the lighting ratios. I f^%Ing hate using a flash ever but the social pressures were enormous at the time. (They loved the pictures, I would have to say they did not suck as bad as I expected them to, but that ain't sayin' much.)

sorry for the digression . . . back to the topic . . . when I am "making art" away from my basement studio, I shoot in very very selective ambient light.

[robbeiflex]

I photograph whenever I can find the time. Admittedly a lot of my photos made in crappy light are pretty crap, but I'm having fun rather than trying to make a living from this so no worries. I do prefer available light and no flash in doors and at night, hence my preference at those times for a rangefinder with fast glass. I also try to avoid the harsh mid-day sun on those rare days when we have sun, but on most of those days I seem to be in the office anyway. If I'm on vacation and likely to be out with my camera mid-day then I like to experiment with ISO 25 and 50 films but my keeper rates on those are pretty low.

Cheers,
Rob

[Bob Michaels]

Because I photograph people I did not previously know, their schedule of being out and about determines when I photograph, not the light.

I much appreciate my kind of character revealing light which is hard, direct and with distinct shadows. But I take what is there when my subjects are.

[BobYIL]

Originally Posted by jsrockit

Do you only photograph in "good" light?

By good, I mean your personal definition of whatever good light in your area of the world is.

I'm suprised when I hear about people waiting for the right time of day to go photographing (for personal photography, not work). I get it... and we all would love to have good light when we photograph. However, do you only photograph during these peak times?

I generally go photographing whenever... even during that mid-day blinding sun and / or in the rain.

How about you? Do you think about this or just go out and photograph whenever you get a chance.

No matter what we say, being able to photograph under any lighting condition is dependent on the hi-ISO capability of the sensor/film employed before anything else.

You can set the X-P1 to ISO 6400 and cover all hours after sunset with hand holdable shutter speeds and get perfectly usable shots; color or b&w. To argue to do the same with film is facing a lot of compromises; first the elimination of two-thirds of the tonality.

The best contribution of the digital has been to encourage us to use our cameras under any lighting conditions. We can predict that two years from now ISO-25600 could well be what the ISO-6400 is for today. Then most of us would hardly be needing to pay for any aperture larger than f2.0, let alone f1.4.

[Araakii]

Originally Posted by intheviewfinder

One of my rules...
There’s no such thing as bad light (or, there are 23 other hours in the day).

--Rich

No such thing as "bad light" in general but if you go for a certain look, anything that doesn't give you that look is bad light.

[divewizard]

Any light I photograph in is good!

[d_ross]

there is no such thing as bad light, there are just bad photographs.

in fact as Helen says often what is considered by many as bad light is the best light.

[d_ross]

Originally Posted by Araakii

No such thing as "bad light" in general but if you go for a certain look, anything that doesn't give you that look is bad light.

no it's just the wrong light.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by d_ross

there is no such thing as bad light, there are just bad photographs.

in fact as Helen says often what is considered by many as bad light is the best light.

... you clearly have never been to Manchester sir

[DominikDUK]

Originally Posted by d_ross

there is no such thing as bad light, there are just bad photographs.

in fact as Helen says often what is considered by many as bad light is the best light.

I fully agree, at least it often is the light that gives the most interesting results. The whole one hour before sunset or one hour before dawn thing is mostly for landscape photographers, though even landscapes can look more interesting in "Bad light". Film Noir is nothing but a series of bad lighting setups

Dominik

[Rayt]

Color print film for harsh light. Color slide for golden hour. B/W for the rest.

[willie_901]

Originally Posted by paulfish4570

all light is good for photography. some light is gooder than others ...

I feel exactly the same way.

[Richard G]

Drab light is a challenge, but one I enjoy. I have been deliberately photographing at dusk recently. But I generally go out when I can or when I have to and would never let the light hold me back. That said, good light is a joy. I am lucky to live in Australia where we do have some fantastic light and deep blue skies. Melbourne's weather is better than Sydney-siders believe, but is so changeable that there is a saying: "If you don't like the weather here, wait five minutes."

[Frida]

I shoot in whatever light I can find. For weddings the flash comes out on the dancefloor, but besides that, it's whenever, wherever.

[Damaso]

Only good light for me!

[reagan]

Originally Posted by paulfish4570

all light is good for photography. some light is gooder than others ...

Apparently, I shoot under this assumption as well. I also put camera to eye assuming I know the difference. *roll eyes* I find bright sunlight a lot less gooder than low-light.

But I don't really think in terms of good or bad light, but rather, "How do I shoot this?", "How can I make this work?" and "Where is the light coming from?" I move to a likable position, make my adjustments and go for it; usually with less than satisfactory results.

But I tried. And trying is gooder.

[-doomed-]

I shoot in whatever light I can find. I often don't have much choice, it's not as though I can ask people to get into an accident earlier or later in the day, I can only shoot when it's happening. I have captured some great moments in fantastic light by chance, however.

[daveleo]

(See my previous posting on this.)

You folks have me feeling pretty bad and cowardly. In fact, I had planned to trip to the botanical garden today but cancelled because it's a bright sunny day (and about noontime now).. . . . . well . . . reading this thread again, I've decided to be bold and go ahead to the garden . . . . what could happen ? If I bag a good bright day photo, I will let you know about it.

If not, Ill say "I told you so."

[al1966]

I can not wait for good light, I will sit there and there is a crawling itching feeling just underneath my skin; I have to pick up a camera and take some photographs, it is the only thing that stops it. I normally find some interesting shadows or patterns or thing though, but photography is a physical need for me.

[Red Robin]

Most of you folks know much more than I about light. For me well , I'm happy to be out shooting. I try to take my rangefinder out each day I go out, but sometimes I just never seem to get it out of the bag. Those missed shots are the ones that NEVER come out.