Latitude and light envelopes

The graph below illustrates the solar elevation and azimuth for 56 degrees north and has some profound implications for landscape photography at that latitude. Sunrise on the summer solstice will illuminate north east facing subject matter and sunset on the winter solstice will illuminate south west facing subject matter.

Illustration for a point 56 degrees North
By Deditos (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

A look at the solar elevation for the summer solstice on the 56th parallel suggests the camera will not be required for much of the day, unless some 'weather' puts in an appearance. However on the winter solstice there is nearly 7 hours of daylight and a maximum solar elevation of ~10 degrees, which means there is theoretically photogenic lighting all day. But what about the rest of the year?

Copyright https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/solcalc/

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has an excellent solar calculator for investigating the potential of a locations light envelope. Some user interaction is required, but the time window of the 10 degree solar elevation can be gleaned and the azimuth of the 10 degree elevation established. It's a sad reality that many locations will never be illuminated by light at the extremes of the day but can be illuminated by photogenic light when the sun clears whatever it is that is masking sunrise/sunset and the NOAA solar calculator in conjunction with maps is a useful aid in determining when that might happen. Twilight duration can also be investigated by entering times before/after sunrise/sunset and noting the negative value of solar elevation.  I've used it for a number of years and have no hesitation in recommending it.

Nic photographing in the Graian Alps ~ 30th June 2014