Note the warm light and fine texture in this image, taken minutes before sunset. The Island of Rum, Scotland

Photography at high noon You've heard it before - as far as good picture is concerned, we can't beat the golden hours around sunrise and sunset. But for people on the trail it is unthinkable to hang around a place and wait for good lighting conditions with another X-teen miles of tramp in mind. Coming back is also out of the question. So should we give up the picture? No, give it a try. At worst, you won't loose more than a few frames of your film. Frantisek Staud

Fuji Sensia, polarising and 81A filters Mt An Sgurr, Scotland

The major problems when shooting at midday are harsh shadows (especially annoying in portraits), lack of texture in the landscape (producing flat looking pictures) and high contrast of the scene (resulting in lost of detail in bright or dark areas).

Although the quality of early/late light remains unsurpassable, there are a few tricks to improve your high-noon photography:

Film choice - highly saturated emulsions such as Fuji Velvia are great for certain assignments, but the intemperate midday light may call for alternatives. If practicable, use films with a more moderate contrast such as Fuji Astia or Kodak E100SW; negative films tend to cope with midday light better than slides. Another option is to try B&W film.

Use filters - if wisely used, filters can ameliorate your photographs. Warming filter (81A - 81C) will rid the image of the bluish cast of midday light. Graduated neutral density filter may help you overcome the contrast gap in the scene. Accurately oriented polarising filter increases contrast between blue sky and white clouds. In addition, it takes off reflections from leaves, thus producing apparently more saturated colours.

This image was taken shortly after noon. The picture editor of Lide a Zeme (October 1999) assured me I was not wasting time or materials Asahi-dake, Japan

Composition choice - when photographing contrasty scene, the limited exposure latitude of your film will force you to sacrifice details either in bright or dark areas. Decide what is more appropriate for your intentions and set the exposure accordingly. Alternatively, try to exclude either the darkest (e.g. shaded foreground) or brightest (mostly sky) elements from your composition.

Sharp shadows in this portrait were erased by fill-in flash Scottish Higlands

Reduce contrast - apart from eliminating extreme areas by careful composition, you can reduce the overall contrast of a scene in some other ways:
Diffuse light - clouds work as a great diffuser. If not at hand, block the direct sun light with a manmade alternative. These are commercially available, but you can be happy with any white translucent material that you find in your backpack; white handkerchief, T-shirt or a sheet will do.
Reflect light - employ a reflective material to lighten shaded areas of your composition. Again, you can get them from a photo shop or make them by yourself; cardboard covered with aluminium foil, or without it if white, works fine.
Fill dark areas with flash-light - using a fill-in flash will bring some highlight to shaded areas. It is particularly beneficial for outdoor portraits, but helps in landscape photography as well. Consult your camera manual for correct setting.