Golden hour and Blue hour are a two perfect times to use natural light to your advantage. These occur an hour before and after sunrise and sunset.
Golden hour is prime time for capturing amazing, soft and perfectly lit portraits There aren’t exact times, but here is a great website to help you find the perfect time in your area!
Blue hour is a very short period between civil twilight, and nautical twilight. It is a small window of time but casts a great blue-ish hue on your subject. Civil twilight is when you can distinguish between the horizon and sky, and the brightest stars are starting to show themselves. Nautical twilight is when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon. Spoiler alert, despite being referred to as the blue hour... if you want the perfect photo you will have to work faster than that.
Overcast days are a prime opportunity to take your camera out for some portrait fun. The clouds act as a natural soft-box for your subject. If you want to get fancy with flash photography, a cloudy day gives substantial fill light.
I personally prefer to stay away from photographing between 11am-2pm. The sun is directly above you, creating shadows that are unflattering. Don’t forget to look around in your environment and study your intended background. Look out for bright reflectors like colored walls, grass, brick, etc. These can cast an unwanted shade of color onto your subject.
Look for directional light. This can enhance mood and composition. Placing a subject near a window is a great way to use directional light to your advantage. Do not place your subject directly in the sun! If you want to get real creative, open your blinds just a tad. Streak-arific for sure! Look at everything around you in a room. A door is a great light modifier as well. By opening and closing a door, you can control the intensity of light.
You can use the directional light strategy outdoors too. I like to find a large tree that acts as a shade over the subjects head. Then, move the subject back and forward under the tree to find the perfect amount of light. Too much light will flatten out the subjects face, as well as too little light darkens the subject, and creates hard shadows.
