What type of light is best in photography?

Answer 1

I would definitely say natural. Indoor/fluorescent light doesn't look very good in pictures, so natural/outside is by far the best. The best time to take pictures is early morning or early evening when the sun isn't completely out and powerful yet.

The above answer is great but I would like to add the following for those who are not just interested in capturing the moment. In Photography you can use both ambient light and artificial lighting to create the effect you want...there is no "best" light. Don't be afraid to experiment. Bracket a shot with a variety of lighting, f-stops, shutter speeds and focuses to see what comes out. Most of all, create.

My answer would be it depends on the subject matter and the way you want to render it. Assuming film is the medium, overhead natural lighting is usually the worst choice for portaiture - especially if it is sunny. Early morn or late evening will add yellow to skin tones if something like an 82A filter is not used. Diffuse skylight would be better when mixed with frontal fill in flash, but frontal skylight would be best (like what you'd get if standing under a canopy). However, contrast usually makes for good B&W photographs - unless it's portraiture, in which case I'd still prefer the frontal skylight. Scenery is another matter altogether - early morning or late evening can produce some wonderful results.