At 10 and 11'oclock in the morning, the beautiful low angled lighting from sunrise is long gone. The magical golden light of sunrise (and sunset) makes landscapes and wildlife images beautiful, but when that's gone, it can be disappointing to shoot outdoors. However, the important thing to remember is to keep the sun at your back when it gets higher in the sky. As long as the subjects are front lit, you'll be OK. True, this kind of light isn't optimal, but it's not bad in many circumstances. This was the case with a mother lion and cub in Botswana. I wasn't happy about the contrasty light, but as long as the cats were lit from the front with most of the shadows filled in, I knew the picture would work.
My settings for this picture were: 1/1250, f/9, 200 ISO, 500mm f/4 Canon telephoto.