Using light in pictures

[Jim_b]

By using the light at sunset you can make a picture more interesting.

[roward]

As the old adage goes, the best times of the day for photography are early morning and about an hour before sunset. I would add to that, depending on the subject, an overcast day or one with diffuse sunlight from high clouds. Flowers photograph particularly well in the last two types of light. Desert light and high altitude light can be very harsh and contrasty in full daylight, but with digital cameras you can work around that to some extent by reducing the contrast setting. However, that still won't give you modeling which is very important in scenic photography. It took me a long time and some dissappointing pictures before I realized that if you see and scene near sunset that really grabs you, but don't have time (or film) to take the shot, you can't just come back at 11 next morning and get the same picture-light is everything!

[lara]

shameless self-promotion here for those who haven't read the series:

Light to illuminate, shadow to shape
http://www.desertusa.com/lara/?p=36

there is another one about light but the link seems to be goofy.

lara

[beemerchef]

It is for sure all about light! + luck... patience... time... being at the right place at the right time...



Sheer luck...

Ara & Spirit

[Guz]

That pretty much sums up life.

[beemerchef]

That pretty much sums up life.

Very well said, it sure does and in my own humble opinion it also sums up Photography in the sense that I disagree with closing my eyes, clicking the shutter and "will fix it all up on Photoshop...
I love a couple photo sites which up front are titles "Digital manipulation"... A different Art...
Be well... Ara & Spirit

[lara]

That pretty much sums up life.

Very well said, it sure does and in my own humble opinion it also sums up Photography in the sense that I disagree with closing my eyes, clicking the shutter and "will fix it all up on Photoshop...
I love a couple photo sites which up front are titles "Digital manipulation"... A different Art...
Be well... Ara & Spirit

photography is about seeing the opportunity to make an image. that can be under overcast skies or during the magic hours. if one is shooting wildflowers for example, noon is a great time to shoot especially if one uses diffusers to manipulate the light.

and trust me, not everything can be fixed in photoshop! good photographers know that.

i like what the famous john sexton said: "“I support any procedure that allows photograhers to express themselves, whether that involves color, black and white, platinum, palladium and digital technology.”

so sometimes an image is just about perfect right out of the camera, other times it is the basis for a different kind of image making. there is no one way to make an image, to take a photo, to try to create art.

lara