To really start to elevate our photography we first need to unlock the secrets of light. Light is, without doubt, the most important element of photography, far higher up the pecking order than any piece of camera equipment that we could buy. If our sensor (or film) is nothing more than a blank canvas, then light is the brush waiting to paint that canvas with mood, colour, atmosphere, depth, dimension, and visual magic.
As photographers we are light chaser. And once we begin to think of photography as the harnessing of light, we’ll take our passion for getting out and taking photographs to a whole new level of awe-inspiring visual stories.
Colour, mood, depth and form. All created by the light
Understanding light is crucial for landscape photography because light is photography. It’s fundamental in shaping composition, creating depth and elevating the visual appeal of our images. And learning to observe light, rather than just see light, will place our photographs in a bracket above a large percentage of the masses. Rather than simply seeing, observing will open up so many more options for your photography and potentially change the way you view a composition. Observing is about taking what you see, and attributing significance to it through thought.
Every photographer can see the sunrise, but does every photographer observe it?
Golden hour is a commonly understood time of day. We know that during golden hour (which as an aside rarely lasts an hour!) the sun delivers us a warmer tone of light with elongated shadows. If we observe what happens to the light and the land during golden hour, we’ll notice how that affects several different aspects of our shot, and our camera.
Contrast drops throughout golden hour. The light tends to move across the land much quicker. Colours can change quite rapidly, greens for instance can move from almost yellow to deep dark green within a matter of minutes. Sun flares becomes a nuisance (or a key ingrediant depending on what you’re going for). Dynamic range drops. We get much cooler tones in our shadows whilst the sun is at it’s lowest ‘golden hour’ point than we will when it hangs slightly higher.
Tarn Hows - notice the much darker green tones in the background trees than the foreground due to the difference in light.
These are just a few observations we can make during the short period known as golden hour. And they would all have a potential impact on what you choose to photograph and how you choose to photograph it.
And these changes occur at all times of day and even night. Light is all around us, even when it may not appear to be the case. And it constantly affects the view of the world around us.
That’s why the truely great photographers stand apart. They observe light constantly, making it a lifetime goal, and they make critical compositional decisions based on those observations. It’s through a longer term approach to the observation of light, taking note of the nuances, the different qualities light has, that we can take leaps forward in our photography.
Light painting the land and the sky with colour
As outdoor photographers, we can’t always choose the light we shoot, but by observing rather than seeing, we’ll make decisions about subjects through our understanding of the light, rather than choosing a subject first and being disappointed by the light that is bouncing off it onto our canvas. As photographers, observing, rather than seeing, is the job spec and it’s a powerful skill to have.
Dave