The aim of "5: Natural Light" was to show the variety of outdoor light, how to make the best use of it and how to choose appropriate lighting conditions for particular subjects.
The sun rises in the East, so if a chosen subject is facing East a photographer would have to shoot it at Sunrise in order to light it from the front. The opposite applies for subjects facing West, they would have to be shot at Sunset.
Sunrise and Sunset are great times to take photographs as the sky has a much higher range of colours. The intense red and orange hues of the sky at sunrise and sunset are mainly caused by scattering of sunlight by dust particles, soot particles, other solid aerosols and liquid aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. Sunrise colours are typically less brilliant and less intense than sunset colours since there are generally fewer particles and aerosols in the morning air than in the evening air. Night time air is usually cooler and less windy, this allows dust and soot particles to settle out of the atmosphere. Sunrise colour intensities can however exceed sunset's intensities when there are night time fires, volcanic eruptions/emissions or dust storms to the east of the viewer. A number of eruptions in recent times, such as those of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and Krakatoa in 1883, have been sufficiently large to produce remarkable sunsets and sunrises all over the world.
Whilst completing Natural Light I have learnt to plan my shots in order to light subjects from certain positions and obtain a more aesthetically pleasing colour in the sky. I have also learnt that cloudy and dull weather doesn't stop me from taking impressive shots. Very cloudy and layered sky can provide a lot of contrast and ultimately produce some very attractive results.
