Btw, about shooting in mid-day.....here's something very humble I'd like to share...something that I've always learned. During a whole year, season and day the sunlight changes a lot.... At dawn the sunlight is more orange/yellow of color, while at dusk it's much more blue. Mid day gives you the most neutral sunlight. (this isn't always a bad thing). Now, ofcourse, in summer the colors are much more saturated that in winter. Over here the sunlight is much cooler than normal, so I sometimes use a polarizer filter to make the colors a bit more contrasty/darker. Also during the summer the transition between night and day, and vice versa takes much more time than during winter. In summer dusk and dawn can last more than two hours, while in winter it can be dark/light in only 15 minutes, depending on where you live. Now, during summer the sun is much higher in the sky than in winter, so ofcourse mid-day winter produces better and longer shadows than in mid-day summer. Basically the most interesting and colored light can be found during dawn and dusk, depending on what you want to shoot, while mid-day with a too strong sunlight can produce much too sharp photos. Sharp photos can be great in landscapes or architecture, but at times a shallow depth of field, or a soft 'look' can be much nices (for instance with portraits....too sharp, and short shadows make even the prettiest girls look ugly or old). If you take a lot of time to make a shot, it's always nice to make more during differt times of the days. After all, it's the light that produces the shadows :) Take care