Is Summer A Bad Time For Landscape Photography?

Well, duh, of course not! For some reason, the CW has it that summer is sub-optimal for landscape photography. Granted, there can be downsides, depending on the latitude where you live, and whether or not you're a morning person. They include:

1. Longer days mean getting up earlier to arrive at your desired location and staying at a location well past cocktail hour, er, dinner time;
2. The sun's transit arc is higher in the sky, leading to more hours of less desirable high contrast overhead light;
3. Desirable image prospects are sometimes filled with tourists; and
4. Depending on your family status, this might be when your partner and/or kids also want to be on vacation with you.

You can deal with all of these. If you're not a morning person, don't go. Or, if there is something you truly want to shoot in the early hours, make it a team effort. Conscript a colleague to go with you to help roust you from sleep.

The old saying is "when you have bad light, shoot black & white." And that is one option, but you still ahve to know what you're doing. Shooting B&W does help you focus on the pure contrasts of light and shadow but by itself, it doesn't solve for composition or subject. If you have a camera that lets you set your LCD or viewfinder to B&W, use it. it makes all the difference for visualizing the light in your scene. I like a B&W screen even when I am shooting color. In addition to shooting B&W, choose a subject that pays you back for it: architecture.

Another option is to choose a subject that filters, softens, or re-orients the harshness of the light for us. Trees are superb for this. Here is an example of just that situation. Taken midday at Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, the trees and their depth prevent the light from flooding the scene and washing everything out, while accentuating the illumination of the interior of the forest.

As for tourists, well, remind yourself that it's good for people to travel and see the beautiful world in which we live. Set an example by not trampling on it. And pick less iconic viewpoints to image and make your own.

As for your family, family first! Never travel without a camera, even on family vacations, but never let it get in the way of family time.