Jeff Tamagini - 23:00

My good friend Jeff Tamagini inspires us to get out just one more time!

23:00

There are 23 other hours in a day.  Why do you only want to shoot during the other one?  The “magic” or “golden” hour is really only about 15-30 minutes at sunrise and sunset.  Some people are under the assumption that these are the only times worth shooting, the only time when the light is right.  Well it’s time to stir the pot.

There is no such thing as bad light, only bad photographers.  Yeah yeah I hear you know, yelling at the computer screen, that you aren’t a bad photographer.  You are probably a pretty good one.  But fact of the matter is there are too many shooters out there that don’t want to go shoot in high noon light, for they feel it’s too harsh. 

Well yes it is indeed harsh and direct, there is no question about it.  But you need to learn how to control it, shape it, find its strengths and weaknesses.  Really take advantage of it and make it your bitch, you are the shooter, you tell the light who is boss.  You can use anything and everything to shape the sun, an awning on a store front, trees in the park, a white sheet, the shadows of a building.

Speaking of buildings.  Let’s say for a minute that you are out doing some street shooting.  You are in Lower Manhattan shooting around the financial district, but it’s 8am and the street you are on is in really bad shadow there isn’t much light anywhere.  The cross street is lit all nicely but guess what the thing you want to shoot isn’t on that street nor can’t be moved there.  But as the sun starts to hit noon, 1pm, it’s a lot higher in the sky and consequently shining more up and down then from the side.  This lets more even light down into the cavernous streets that the skyscrapers of NYC create.  I mean who wouldn’t want that?

Hmm...11pm, what to do now? Go to Bed? Sure you could work on some of the photos that you have downloaded from the day, I mean eventually you are going to have to work on them.  Instead, why not grab that camera and maybe even your tripod and hit the streets at night to shoot the artificial light that is all around us in the world.  You would be shocked at what you can capture by leaving your shutter open for a few minutes.  Try heading in a completely different direction, take the camera off that tripod, set the ISO to oh say 3200 or so and start shooting night street photography.  Start to utilize the small pools of light that street lamps, store windows and neon signs can create.  Just be careful not to get maced because you scared the hell out of some girl because you were standing in a shadow so no one could see you.

Now its 1am what do you do?  Find a place void of artificial light, mount your camera on that tripod, open the shutter for an hour or so and just let it capture the stars, it’s also the perfect time to grab a beer with a friend while the shutter is open, I mean what else are you going to do.  Depending if you are shooting 30sec galaxy shots or 60min star trails you aren’t going to have many chances at this so grab a few, have fun with it and start to head back home.  See that light starting to creep up on the horizon watch it, if its interesting stop for a shot, if not, just go to bed and let the rest of the world take that photo for that hour of “perfect” light because you just beat that light into submission and you can go sleep.  It’s guaranteed you shot some great photos a lot of the world just let pass them by.

One last piece of advice, don’t give up a chance to shoot just because the sun isn’t out at all.  Some of my most dynamic photos have been both at night and in the rain.   Take advantage of the elements, perfect sunny days can be boring, add a little rain, snow or wind and a boring shoot of just ordinary people walking down the street can turn in to those same people running, newspapers over their head trying to stay dry.  Maybe a  cab speeding through a puddle dowses people with water, or some friends stay huddled under an umbrella to stay dry while waiting for the bus.  Make the most out of every situation that mother nature throws at you.

Check out more of Jeff's work by visiting the links below:

http://www.tamaginidesign.com/blog/