GlamourByLBD note: What’s a vacation without photos? I asked our family photographers, Jerry and Kathi Venz to share a few of the secrets to their success with us. . As much as they love studio portraiture, Jerry and Kathi have a real passion for art photography and would much rather be outdoors!
Here is what Jerry had to say….
When you’re outside at a major tourist hot spot like the Roman Coliseum, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Arches National Monument or even a more modest local spot like the Japanese Hakone Gardens-the most important contributing factor to great photos is time of day. Click here to see images.
When is the best time of day you ask? Well, sometimes it depends on which direction your subject is facing relative to the sun, but even with the diverse locations of the major and minor sites I mentioned above it’s hard to go wrong with starting two hours before sunset. Sometimes, sunrise, and the hour following is the best light (example: my all time favorite of lower Yosemite falls was captured at sunrise because the falls faced the light and it was in December and I wanted to get the ice cone on the rock face of the falls before it melted away.) but post-sunrise sweet light fades away very quickly whereas sunset light lasts longer and gets better as the sun goes down.
There are many benefits to using this “magic-hour” lighting. First the lower angle of the sun will give you dramatic detail and as the sun gets lower and the light has to go through more atmospheric haze 
the light gets warmer in color creating a beautiful amber glow on natural or unnatural rock structures-even people look great in this light.
The other major benefit to using this time of day is the absence of other tourists cluttering-up your photos! At major tourist destinations like the Roman Coliseum this is a huge problem. When my wife and I walked to the coliseum in the afternoon there were ten tour buses already there and more arriving every half hour-it was a zoo! In addition the Coliseum in the daylight was not very attractive-it’s a grey and black, very drab structure. But having done my homework, I knew they lit-up the Coliseum at night, so we came back at midnight and created some great images of a glowing coliseum at night with nary a tourist in sight-O.K. there were two tourists there, but we didn’t mind!
Be prepared: Bring a lightweight tripod-You’ll need it for nighttime photos like we took at the Coliseum. Don’t forget an umbrella. Many areas have rain in May, like Italy…Yes it rained the night we photographed the coliseum. Don’t forget to bring a hat. A wide brim hat works great as a lens shade. When your camera is pointed towards the sun any lens flare will greatly reduce color saturation in your photos-so try holding your hat over the end of the camera lens to shade it. Note: if your lens has a lens shade (especially the “flower-petal” type) it won’t be enough-especially in vertical orientation-so bring a hat!
Last ditch photos: If you must photograph, say in the late morning or early afternoon, try to keep ALL of your subjects in either direct sunlight or completely in the shade. In these cases your camera’s meter will do a good job with a proper exposure and the camera will image good detail across the frame. However, if you mix light in the scene-that is half in direct sunlight and half in the scene is in full shade-your camera will not record detail in both areas.
Best tip: Take a long lunch while all the tourists are out there en masse during the hot, shade-less, part of the day (noon ‘til 3 pm) taking terrible pictures of each other-stay back in town and go to a great uncrowned restaurant and soak up the atmosphere; great images are worth waiting for.
Interested in learning more even more about Digital Photography? Check out the daily blog at Digital Photography School website.
