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Photography tip no 3: Improve your images with one easy technique.

Jerome Goh

Jerome Goh

— 2 min read
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Photography tip no 3: Improve your images with one easy technique.
The Kinkaku-ji temple, also known as the “Golden Pavilion” temple in Kyoto, Japan. The light was amazing that day, directional and warm.

That easy technique is to Shoot in 'Directional Light'.

Directional light is light that travels in a specific direction, creating strong shadows and enhancing colours. Most of our images instantly look better when we shoot in this kind of light and it is an easy way to immediately take better pictures.

So the question is, how do we find directional light?

The best way is to time your shoots - The best time of day to shoot outdoors is when there is 'directional' light from the Sun. Which is during the early morning or middle to late afternoon. A very small window of time when the light is 'perfect' is the hour right after sunrise and an hour and a half right before sunset, this special time of day (both morning and evening) is also known as the Golden Hour, so called because the light is just perfect.

Why is directional light important? First, it creates contrast: You’ll see clear separation between light and shadow areas. Second, it adds depth: Helps define texture and shape, great for dramatic or three-dimensional looks. And third, it enhances colour, if you are able to shoot during the golden hour, you will also get a beautiful golden warm tone to your images.

These are some images which I shot while paying attention to the direction of the light.

Loved the pattern of the backlit leaves, the sunlight behind creating a beautiful effect and pattern, all of it would not happen without the sun positioned right behind the leaves in the evening.
I shot this image on the temple grounds of Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Japan. The sunlight filtered gently through the canopy of the trees before falling softly upon the man at roughly a fifty-degree angle, creating a beautiful scene. In that moment, all I had to do was compose the frame and press the shutter.
I shot this image of Kinkaku-ji temple, a famous site in Kyoto Japan. It was around four in the afternoon, still too early for true golden hour light, yet the sunlight was directional, warm, and wonderfully soft nonetheless, perhaps diffused by the overhead clouds. Without that beautiful light on that particular day, this image would never have been possible.

Jerome

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