Direction of Light

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Ring-Billed Gull
I frequently find that that the most significant factor affecting the quality of my images is the direction of light.  In the case of outdoor photography, this translates into the position of the sun relative to the position of you and your subject.  These Ring-billed Gull photographs were taken at about 8:30am with the sun behind me and to my right.  The sun's low position added a different quality to the color of the light, but it also effectively lit the underside of the bird without creating harsh shadows.  As the sun gets higher in the sky this quality of light begins to fade.

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Ring-Billed Gull
This does not at all mean that you can't get good pictures later in the day, but you need to be concerned with how you can put yourself in a good position to use the sun to your advantage.  The image below was taken at about 11:50am, just before noon, but the sun was almost directly in front of me.  When I saw the Florida Scrub Jay I shot this photograph, but I didn't expect to get much out of it.  Notice the deep shadows where the eye belongs.

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Florida Scrub Jay
(sun in front of me)
So after giving up on waiting for the scrub jay accommodate my lighting needs, I decided to move.  I walked around to the other side of the bird, and it was nice enough to move to a different perch.  I was able to to get the photographs below just 15 minutes after the first scrub jay picture, at about 12:05pm.  As you can see, putting yourself between the bird and sun can make a huge difference in your photography even in the middle of the day.

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Florida Scrub Jay
(sun behind me)
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Florida Scrub Jay
(sun behind me)

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