Bright and sunny skies, or bluebird skies, as some call them, are the bane of landscape photographers. Or are they? We’ve all been taught to seek out the “good” light of golden hour or dramatic skies. This video talks about how to walk away with great images even on those sunny, cloudless days.

Have you ever had a landscape photography trip planned only to have several days of cloudless skies? Michael Shainblum shares his tips for photographing landscapes on bright and sunny days, so those trips still result in great results.

Shainblum works through some of his techniques for capturing images on days with blue skies. He highlights the importance of scouting scenes under the harsh light, marking them for coming back to them a little later in the day with reflected light. This takes slowing down a little, observing the elements and subjects around you, and thinking about how they will look later in the day.

Shainblum also seeks out subjects in more favorable conditions, looking for small scenes and textures in the shade of canyon walls. He shares impressive results that can come from a little extra effort looking for pleasing light in small places. He concludes the video with what I think is one of the most important tips in the video.

I have actively been pushing myself to latch onto the advice that there is no bad light. The tips presented by Shainblum in this video are welcomed as I work to grow my approach to photographing landscapes at times old me would have considered unfavorable.