The best time of day for taking pictures

If you ask a newbie when to shoot, the most frequent answer will be: "It doesn't matter "when", outside you'll make always good pictures, even using a phone!". Or "Of course, at noon when the sun shines brightly and everything is clearly visible!" A more experienced photographer will not be so sure.

So does it make any difference when to shoot?

When the sun shines brightly, it is difficult to get a good shot, because a part of the picture can have only white color or, otherwise, a shadow is too dark and nothing is visible. But by shooting in the twilight you have to raise the ISO, which in turn decreases the quality of the picture. Thus, the difference when to take a picture exists.

And what time of day is better for shooting?

The time of sunrise and sunset is best suited for shooting both landscapes and portraits.

1. The light at this time is milder, it is not as strong as at noon, and at the same time, it is enough for lighting.

2. The light at the time of sunrise and sunset has different shades and thus you can get different photos even without using filters for lenses.
Here is a photo of the same place as previous one (Bulgarian Black Sea Coast) but 15 minutes later:

3. By placing the model at different angles to the sun, you can emphasize or highlight certain details or give a character for the model.

4. The sun in the background can add special and unusual photo effects.

5. Even a photo made with a mobile phone at this time of day will be much more interesting.
For example, this photo was made by regular mobile phone during sunset:

So which time is better: time of sunrise or time of sunset?

And in this case, there isn't any big difference. Indeed, it is often difficult to determine whether it is sunset or sunrise. Only the atmosphere and mood in which the picture was taken gives a hint.

And at the same time, it is worth noting the advantage of the time of sunrise, that in the morning hours there are significantly fewer crowds outside.
These two pictures shows the same place (Bulgaria Sunny Beach Resort) but the different time of day:

And the same place in the morning:

Conclusion.

Of course, with the experience and good equipment, you can take pictures at any time of day.
But the best time for this is the time of sunrise or sunset.

And as an example, a photo album "Sunset & Sunrise":