LIGHT

Put simply, without light we would have no life, no beauty and no photography. Light is such an intrinsic part of photography and one in which we can at times, take for granted. There are many scientific terms and explanations regarding the nature of light, but I’ll deal with the more practical side of things.

There is a term known in photographic circles as ‘the hour of power’. This is that glorious time of day about an hour after sunrise or before sunset. It has a lovely golden hue, the shadows are softer and the general ambience has a more dramatic feel to it. Having a softer shadow is a definite advantage in regard to portraits. There’s nothing worse than a big shadow of someone’s nose streaking across his or her face. The reason for this is much the same as why we get beautiful colours in the hour of power. Light is scattered by the atmosphere and particles, the more scattered or diffused the light, the softer the shadow.

 Nature has many ways of changing the face of light. Just look at the shadows on a cloudy day and then if there’s a sun break. There are ways we can control light with the help of simple household items. Tracing paper or curtains diffuse light nicely. A big piece of white, gold or silver cardboard can reflect light to fill in shadow.

Light also bounces. Picture the sun shining onto a mirror at 45 degrees, well that light is going to bounce off that mirror and reflect in the opposite direction at the same 45 degrees. The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. So never shoot flash straight on at a window, stand off to the side a bit. Ok that’s enough on the technical side of things. Experiment with different times of day and night, observe and enjoy the amazing gift of light.