Take what the light give you
Take what the light gives you. Early morning and late afternoon can present harsh lighting conditions when the light is at a 90 degree angle to the subject and camera. But it can also make for dramatic effects. Yesterday I snapped a few with such lighting. If you have a DSLR and a high contrast subject, like this downy woodpecker, meter the overall composition then reduce by 2 f stops or so until you get the desired effect. With subjects that don’t have a lot of contrast, you can create wonderful shapes from the rim lighting. Now go give it a try!
Ps. Had there not been a light spot behind the downy’s head the image would have been a total flop.
