"Aim: To show the variety of outdoor light, how to make the best use of it and how to choose appropriate lighting conditions for particular subjects"
Light can be used deliberately to bring texture and atmosphere to a photograph. Without light, it would not be possible to even take photographs and therefore is the most important element of photography. The quality of light can make the all important difference to a picture. It changes significantly and scenes can appear differently every single day. Knowing how to choose or control light is a major step in improving photographs. I am looking forward to learning how to use light to improve my photographs.
Below I have selected twelve photographs from The Textbook that are lit from the four different lighting angles; Front Lit, Back Lit, Side Lit and Rim Lit.
Front Lit:
01. Image 81, Page 151: ‘White Branches’ Ansel Adams
02. Image 45, Page 95: ‘Miss Thompson’ Alfred Stieglitz
03. Image 49, Page 95: ‘Der Malshirm (The Artist’s Umbrela)’ Heinrich Kuehn
04. Image 9, Page 21: ‘The Open Door’ William Henry Fox Talbot
Back Lit:
05. Image 119, Page 220: ‘El Umbral (The Threshold)’ Manuel Avarez Bravo
06. Image 39, Page 71: ‘Flither [Limpet] Pickers’ Frank Meadow Sutcliffe
Side Lit:
07. Image 21, Page 39: ‘Portrait Head of a Woman’ Julia Margaret Cameron
08. Image 40, Page 82: ‘Wilbur Peebo – Comanche’ Edward Curtis
09. Image 44, Page 87: ‘The Pines of Mio’ Herbert G. Ponting, F.R.G.S.
Rim Lit:
10. Image 48, Page 93: ‘Académie’ Robert Demachy
11. Image 107, Page 195: ‘Threshing Corn in Sicily’ Gotthard Schuh
12. Image 35, Page 633: ‘Recruiting Sergeants at Westminster’ John Thomson
Another part of Project 45: Picture Count is to “identify 10 photographs from the textbook in which lighting is of prime importance”. I may be over thinking this slightly but without light then photography wouldn’t exist at all and therefore, I believe light is the most important factor in any photograph! However, I have listed 10 shots below where the specific light condition is the most aesthetic quality.
01. Image 119, Page 220: ‘El Umbral (The Threshold)’ Manuel Avarez Bravo
02. Image 64, Page 117: ‘A Teazel’ Albert Renger-Patzsch
03. Image 84, Page 156: ‘Greene County Georgie’ Jack Delano
04. Image 103, Page 89: ‘A Public Meeting in Estremadura’ David Seymour
05. Image 122, Page 224: ‘Edith. Danville, Virginia 1971’ Emmit Gown
06. Image 35, Page 63: ‘Recruiting Sergeants at Westminster’ John Thomson
07. Image 44, Page 87: ‘The Pines of Mio’ Herbert G. Ponting, F.R.G.S.
08. Image 48, Page 93: ‘Académie’ Robert Demachy
09. Image 114, Page 207: ‘Crosses on Scene of Highway’ Robert Frank
10. Image 115, Page 209: Untitled, William Klein
