Bruce Barnbaum - The Art of Photography - An Approach to Personal Expression

Figure 4-3. The Sawtooth, Cottonwood Canyon

Chapter 5. Light

THE IMPORTANCE OF LIGHT IN PHOTOGRAPHY cannot be overemphasized. Light, in fact, is the central issue. The word photography was coined by William Henry Fox Talbot when he made the first negative/positive image in 1839. It was an amalgam of two Greek words, photo (light) and graphy (to draw). Fox Talbot saw photography as a means of “drawing with light”.

The only thing recorded by film and sensors is light. They have no understanding of subject matter. Film and sensors do not recognize faces, trees, buildings, sunsets, etc. They only recognize levels of light. A sharp lens focuses those levels of light on specific areas of the film plane or sensor. Neither film nor sensors recognize lines, forms, relationships among them, or any of the other elements of composition. You have to recognize those things, select them in the viewfinder, and make your exposure to maximize them. The film or sensor then records the light levels it is exposed to for the length of time the shutter is open.

Light is the essence of photography. Knowledgeable photographers realize that they are not photographing objects, but rather light and the way it delineates objects or is emitted by them. Photography is the study of light, the perception of light, and the interpretation of light. Lines, forms, and shapes appear because of the way light reveals those various compositional elements, not solely because of the forms themselves.

Light must be used as a means of directing the viewer’s eye as you, the photographer, want the viewer’s eye to be directed. In Chapter 2 we discussed how the eye jumps to the brightest or most contrasty areas first. This physiological fact indicates that light alone can be used more effectively than lines or forms—or any other element of composition—to direct the eye. In fact, light is the most important element of composition because it determines form.

Mid-morning, with a touch of fog hanging in the air, I photographed directly toward the sun with the huge sequoia tree blocking it from the lens. The ample exposure retained full detail on the backlit trees and in the huge root ball. The unrivaled brightness range of film allowed me to hold detail everywhere, from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights.

Figure 5-1. Sequoias and Sunburst

Axis light—sun directly behind the camera—is difficult to work with because it tends to flatten the scene. Here, mid-morning axis light produced a pewter-like sheen on the Death Valley dunes, with sensuous forms coming to the fore.

Figure 5-2. Silver Sunlit Dunes

Light is so important that it is necessary to become an expert in every aspect of light, from its bold qualities to its subtle nuances. When you are engaged in composing a photograph, there are two considerations about light that should be of prime concern to you. The first is how light distributes itself on the ground glass, viewing screen, or LCD. Look at the light and dark areas, light and dark spots, light and dark lines, etc., to see if they attract the eye toward important elements or insignificant elements within the composition. In doing so, identify the brightest of the light areas and the darkest of the dark areas—in other words, the areas that stand out the most. Those are the areas that will draw the eye most forcefully.

You must also understand the type of light (also known as the “quality of light”) available to you, and see if it is the type of light you want for the mood you’re attempting to convey. Is it strong sunlight on a perfectly clear day, hazy sunlight, overcast light, or foggy light? Is it overhead midday light, sunrise light, or low, directional sunset light? Is it backlight (coming directly toward you) or axis light (coming from directly behind you) (Figure 5-1 and Figure 5-2)? Is it ambient lighting from sources you can control, such as spotlights, floodlights, or light boxes? Is it indoor light from a window or from overhead lights or lamps? Whatever it is, you must determine whether it is compatible with the desired mood. If you’re outdoors, you can wait for the light to change to something better for your purposes; if you’re indoors, you can probably change the light at will. Don’t waste film or useless digital captures until the desired changes occur.

Don’t confuse quality of light with quantity of light. Most non-photographers equate good light with an abundance of light. They’re wrong. As any good photographer knows, you can keep the shutter open for long periods of time when the light is dim, or you can have extremely short shutter speeds when the light is excessively bright. So you can control the quantity of light under almost all circumstances. But you may not be able to control the direction, color, sharpness, or diffusion of light in all cases, and those are the things that fall under the category of quality of light. If you want strong cross lighting from the sun to bring out the crags in a mountain, but it’s an overcast or hazy day, you’d be better off enjoying the view of the mountain than photographing it. If you want strong cross lighting to bring out the crags in a person’s face, but you have only soft room light rather than a sharp spotlight to work with, you should walk away from that photograph as well. Only when the quality of light you want and the light you actually have coincide can you make the photograph you want.

Therefore, it is necessary to understand how these qualities of light can be modified photographically. By first recognizing the qualities of light as they exist, and then understanding how they can be maintained, intensified, or subdued, you place yourself in firm artistic control. You also place yourself in the position of determining a strategy to achieve your goals. Just as a painter controls what goes on the canvas, a photographer must control what goes onto the camera’s sensor or photographic emulsion first, and onto the final print in the end.

Looking at Light

The perceptive photographer first looks at the distribution of light within the frame, and then looks at the objects—the things—in the picture. Of course, you’re first drawn to a scene because of the objects, but once you grab the camera, you must stop thinking in terms of objects and concentrate on light . If the light alone draws the eye to the proper objects—the ones you want to emphasize—the composition may be very strong. (Remember that good composition is the art of directing the viewer toward the most important elements of the photograph.)

Note

Most non-photographers equate good light with an abundance of light. They’re wrong.

Furthermore, the light should serve to hold viewers within the photograph rather than catapult them away from it. It’s so easy to get caught up in subject matter (the “things” within the picture) that you fail to notice that the brightest area is the upper left corner or the right edge. An oversight like this can undermine the photograph entirely. It’s possible that there is a valid reason to place the brightest area in the upper left corner or the right edge or any other location within the image (after all, there are no compositional rules in photography), but you should be aware of it and do it deliberately with a purpose in mind. Accidental compositions are rarely successful.