See The Light
Photography is all about light, whether it’s natural or artificial it is the very essence of every image we make and plays a huge part in the composition. Bright areas will always draw the eye toward them so they play a large part in the balance of the image and the way we view it. In the shot below the sun grabs our attention first and we are drawn to look at it but the shadow of the buffalo bring us back across the image to the foreground herd before we explore the rest of the frame. The light from the sun is such an attention grabber that it forces us away from our usual visual pattern and dictates that we view from upper right to lower left.
Seeing The Light
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This is a phrase that is easy to say but much more difficult to actually do. Your camera doesn't see light the way your eyes do, you have to learn to 'show it the light', to capture what you see. In this simple image of dappled light across autumn leaves I was drawn to the light in the centre of the frame catching some leaves and casting shadows on others. If I had allowed the camera to determine the metering for this shot it's unlikely that it would have achieved the same depth as the manual setting. I forced the camera to capture the light I saw including the 'underexposed' left side and 'overexposed' right side of the shot. It's that shadow and highlight that bring depth to the image and accurately reflects what I saw and what made me stop and make an image. Learn to make manual exposures to allow you to accurately reproduce what you see and you will be much happier with your images as a result. |
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Backlighting
Backlighting (where the main light source is coming from behind the main topic of the image) is an excellent compositional tool that really helps to bring life to an image. Not only does it ensure your own shadow isn’t getting in the way of your shot, it really enhances the edges of the main topic. If you use it either with or without a very small amount of fill flash or bounced light from a reflective surface, backlighting helps your images stand out. The gallery below shows a number of backlit subjects with captions to support them.
Shoot The Light You Have
You will always hear about ‘the golden hour’(sometimes called the magic hour) which is about 10 minutes before to 50 minutes after sunrise and 20 before and 40 after sunset. You’ll hear about ‘The blue hour’ (which is actually about 40 minutes) before sunrise and after sunset where indirect light takes on a nice blue hue.
Of course we would love to have a sunset or sunrise to make our images better every time but life's not like that, and how dull it would be if it was. It's still possible to make good solid images in the brightest of daylight and perhaps a good challenge to any photographer is to do so. After all, if you are only at the location at that time it would be foolish not make a memory. I find shooting in harsh daylight can really focus the mind on composition, because without a good composition it is unlikely that you'll make a good image with such lighting. The gallery below is comprised of images shot in harsh direct sunlight and personally I'm happy with them all, harsh light or not.
Of course we would love to have a sunset or sunrise to make our images better every time but life's not like that, and how dull it would be if it was. It's still possible to make good solid images in the brightest of daylight and perhaps a good challenge to any photographer is to do so. After all, if you are only at the location at that time it would be foolish not make a memory. I find shooting in harsh daylight can really focus the mind on composition, because without a good composition it is unlikely that you'll make a good image with such lighting. The gallery below is comprised of images shot in harsh direct sunlight and personally I'm happy with them all, harsh light or not.
The Golden Hour
The golden hour mentioned briefly above is always a wonderful time to make images, the light is perfect and shooting almost anything will produce fantastic results with a little effort. My shot of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset must be one of the most clichéd shots of California but it still holds the attention, it’s still a beautiful image thanks to that wonderful light.
The gallery below shows a selection of golden hour images. That beautiful light does bring an extra magic to any shot whether direct, side or backlit the diffused sunlight really does make something special out of almost any topic. Having said that, if you take the time to compose a good solid shot the golden hour might just take it to the next level and deliver a great shot. Try to ensure you have a solid, well composed shot that is planned and ready to deliver when the sun is just right and you will start making stunning images more often.
The Blue Hour
The blue hour is a more challenging time to shoot simply because of the low light availability at that time, a tripod or firm surface to rest the camera on is vital. The shot below in Kananaskis, Alberta is a very simple shot. It’s not a great sweeping landscape or a specifically stunning focal point but the blue hour makes it a lovely shot of a fairly standard landscape.
The gallery below shows more examples of the blue hour. Notice how the skies have that wonderful blue rather than dark black of night, it is that which brings the magic to the image and can really make the shot, remember the light itself is an absolutely vital part of your composition.
