Reading the light as a photographer
Can you read the light? When you arrive at a place you want to take photographs can you immediately see what kind of light you will be dealing with?
Try it now: imagine you are going to take a photograph from wherever you are right now and answer each of these questions:
What is the main source and what temperature is it?
What are secondary sources and are they the same temperature?
How much is there (ie. how bright is it)?
How diffused is it and therefore will your shadows be hard or soft?
What is the dynamic range of the scene?
What direction is the main light source coming from and how much can you move to change this?
Can you, and do you need to, modify the light with diffusers or reflectors?
Is this "compelling light"? ie. can you make a photograph in these conditions or would you need to wait or change it?
Pick two or three of the places you are often in, or one place in different types of light, and take a photograph of the light. It can either be as it falls on something or of the light source itself but you are aiming to have the light as the subject rather than anything else in the shot. Examples might be shadows creating a pattern on a wall, shafts of light coming through trees or the setting sun casting a warm glow on a building with a grey sky behind.
Be very critical: does the photograph truly represent how you saw the light? If not, what can you change? Did you get the exposure wrong, can you try changing the contrast in post processing?
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This blog post is taken from A Second Year With My Camera, Emma’s intermediate photography course which will be available on Amazon in December 2021. To join the email preview for AYWMC2 click here:
If you’re not ready for the intermediate course yet, you can join the first A Year With My Camera and start from the very beginning here:
