Light determines how we see the world. Without it, we’d all be in the dark. That’s self-evident, right? And nowhere is this more true than in photography. In fact, the word itself comes from the Greek, and it means “light writing.” I guess that pretty much gives the game away. But there’s more to the story than etymology. Light has many moods, and using it to best advantage is one of the most demanding aspects of the photographer’s art. It’s also one of the most enjoyable.

OK. You’ve got a camera. What’s your pleasure? Is it capturing wild animals in their natural habitat? Water in its varying tempos? Flowers and fungi along the portage trail? Or maybe you just want to make a record of your paddling and camping adventures. No matter. Whatever your reason for clicking the shutter, light plays a vital role in the result. Mind you, I’m more concerned with the how than the why. I’ll leave discussions of the nature of light to those who are better qualified: physicists, opticians, and optical mineralogists, to name only a few. In what follows, I’m going to stick to the strictly practical.

Let’s begin at the beginning. At some time or another, most serious photographers have been told to keep the sun behind them when they shoot. In fact, this is often the very first lesson that a novice shutterbug learns. And it’s pretty good advice, as far as it goes. The trouble is that it doesn’t go very far. Napoleon used to say that being a good commander meant mastering luck. Well, being a good photographer requires that you master light. You can’t afford to let the light dictate when and where and what you shoot. A shot presents itself, here and now. Conditions are what they are. It’s up to you to make the most of the accident of the moment. And that means understanding all of natural light’s many faces. Read more…

 
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