Thoughts and Feelings

The aim of "5: Natural Light" was 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.

The sun rises in the East, so if a chosen subject is facing East a photographer would have to shoot it at Sunrise in order to light it from the front. The opposite applies for subjects facing West, they would have to be shot at Sunset.

Sunrise and Sunset are great times to take photographs as the sky has a much higher range of colours. The intense red and orange hues of the sky at sunrise and sunset are mainly caused by scattering of sunlight by dust particles, soot particles, other solid aerosols and liquid aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. Sunrise colours are typically less brilliant and less intense than sunset colours since there are generally fewer particles and aerosols in the morning air than in the evening air. Night time air is usually cooler and less windy, this allows dust and soot particles to settle out of the atmosphere. Sunrise colour intensities can however exceed sunset's intensities when there are night time fires, volcanic eruptions/emissions or dust storms to the east of the viewer. A number of eruptions in recent times, such as those of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and Krakatoa in 1883, have been sufficiently large to produce remarkable sunsets and sunrises all over the world.

Whilst completing Natural Light I have learnt to plan my shots in order to light subjects from certain positions and obtain a more aesthetically pleasing colour in the sky. I have also learnt that cloudy and dull weather doesn't stop me from taking impressive shots. Very cloudy and layered sky can provide a lot of contrast and ultimately produce some very attractive results.

5: Natural Light

"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