To the photographer, all the world is a stage dramatized by the light; this phrase was written by the stage photographer George Karger in the introduction of an article about the light and stage photography in the Popular Photography – ND magazine (March 1944, p.31).
And, despite the seventy years that separate us from then, the truth of this sentence hasn’t changed at all. Every day new photos continue experimenting with the light like enlightened newbies, using the cosmic flood of sun rays to capture their interpretation of a scene with an image.
As John Berger said, “what makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials is light and time“. And, like all things, to ‘master’ the light, you must first count it and learn it. The hand-held light meters are replaced widely by the digital technology and cameras. All of them can meter light and adjust aperture, shutter speed and ISO automatically. Some trust its suggestion, other prefer to meter the light and make their own adjustments, other try both, like me.
The other important characteristic of the light is the angle; how the light enters in the scene; what sides of the scene does it lighten; it illuminates all the scene, or specific areas. The angle also determines the shadows, their length and their direction. Once we observe all the things that are bound with the light, we start make decisions.
Of course, and in this field there is limitless space for the ways we will use the light. Sometimes I really enjoy photographing street scenes contrary to the sun to make people look like silhouettes, sometimes I choose light enter diagonal to dramatize more the scene, and other times a spotless bright light, like the summery Greek sun, is all need to make a seascape seem clear and endless. All are to us to find the special conditions to capture! Like Aaron Rose said, “in the right light, in the right time everything is extraordinary.” Just remember to hold your camera because that moment is irreversible and unrepeatable!
articles & sources
• Photography 101. The Fundamentals of Light at dailypost.wordpress.com
• How to Read Light in Photography Part1 at fstoppers.com
• Natural Light in Photography at cambridgeincolour.com
• 17 Quotes On Light at johnpaulcaponigro.com