Best Lighting For Family Photo Session at The Poly

We will be planning a family photo session the second week of may at The Poly. We want to get pictures taken with the Wedding Chapel in the background. When we did this in the morning during our last May trip to Disney it seemed the sun quickly became a problem and we had to squint quite a bit. This time we will only have to time to do a late day shoot. Our time would have to be 6:00pm and no later than 7:30pm. With that being said what would be the best time as far as good lighting?

horse11 said:

We will be planning a family photo session the second week of may at The Poly. We want to get pictures taken with the Wedding Chapel in the background. When we did this in the morning during our last May trip to Disney it seemed the sun quickly became a problem and we had to squint quite a bit. This time we will only have to time to do a late day shoot. Our time would have to be 6:00pm and no later than 7:30pm. With that being said what would be the best time as far as good lighting?

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The best light, known as the "magic hour" in photography, is almost always the first and last hour of sunlight of the day. Or some would say it goes from about 45 minutes before sunset, to about 15-30 minutes after sunset. IMHO, for portraits, you're best off a little before sunset. (That magic hour just after sunset works really well for landscapes).
So check the sunset time.... But you are probably looking at a sunset between 8-8:30. So I'd hope for the best pictures around 7:30. With the sun low in the horizon, you get more diffuse lighting, you get less harsh shadows, you get a lot of natural "open shadows" to shoot in, you get less glare, and the sunlight has a softer quality to it.

havoc315 said:

The best light, known as the "magic hour" in photography, is almost always the first and last hour of sunlight of the day. Or some would say it goes from about 45 minutes before sunset, to about 15-30 minutes after sunset. IMHO, for portraits, you're best off a little before sunset. (That magic hour just after sunset works really well for landscapes).
So check the sunset time.... But you are probably looking at a sunset between 8-8:30. So I'd hope for the best pictures around 7:30. With the sun low in the horizon, you get more diffuse lighting, you get less harsh shadows, you get a lot of natural "open shadows" to shoot in, you get less glare, and the sunlight has a softer quality to it.

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AWESOME!!! Just what I was looking for!! Thank you!!! I love taking pictures but have not taken the time to really study Photography. I do how ever notice that there seems a time of day during which the light is bright that the pictures seem so crisp and not over processed which it seems you get when you shoot right into the light. not sure how else to describe it but that was what I was looking for or a sunset shot. Being that we would have to get a 6:30 or later session then it would be best to get a 7:30 session? what is the best time to shoot day shots? Depending on the answer to this we may also consider a day session at Epcot.

I shoot photos of my family when we make it to the beach in Florida every couple years. I have settled on doing it about an hour before sunset. Earlier in the day and the shadows are just too strong, and the lighting too harsh.

horse11 said:

AWESOME!!! Just what I was looking for!! Thank you!!! I love taking pictures but have not taken the time to really study Photography. I do how ever notice that there seems a time of day during which the light is bright that the pictures seem so crisp and not over processed which it seems you get when you shoot right into the light. not sure how else to describe it but that was what I was looking for or a sunset shot. Being that we would have to get a 6:30 or later session then it would be best to get a 7:30 session? what is the best time to shoot day shots? Depending on the answer to this we may also consider a day session at Epcot.

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Not exactly sure what you mean by "crisp." That generally doesn't seem like purely an issue of time of day. And regardless of the time of day, you are affected by the location --- You want the wedding chapel in the background, so since you already have a spot picked out, that spot will photograph differently at different times of day. As I said, *in general*.. if the sun is setting 8-8:30, you can get the best portraits from about 7:30-7:45. But that may or may not be true for your exact spot, depending the position of the buildings, etc. From what I recall about the location of the chapel, you can have the chapel and lake behind you, and the sun will be in front of you. The sun will be very low, so not sure if it will be blocked by other buildings or trees. You should be able to get a nice diffuse light. Your photographer will likely not rely solely on natural light.