It’s All About That Light

It's true that in some ways pop music really is all about the bass, as folks like Meghan Trainor and Joe Mariencheck have pointed out, but when it comes to photography, it's all about the light. After all, that's the only thing any camera does: it captures light. There's nothing more to it than that. A camera is a device that catches light and preserves it. Whether on film or on an electronic sensor, all that happens when the shutter is clicked is that the light coming in is caught and saved. The trick to making a photo interesting is to point the camera at interesting light. That's what any photographer does, and that's what I try to do whenever I go out with a camera. Over the years, it has become automatic, so ingrained that it almost feels like instinct: walking, driving, sitting on a stump, I'm always noticing what the light is doing. Last evening, I was once again out watching the light. I traveled to several different areas of the county, and was delighted with de light I was seeing. Conditions were terrific: cloudy skies, sun sinking low, weather that makes for attractive light, with good color and variable brightness, the clouds alternately obscuring the sunlight and filtering it, then opening up to let it shine through across some areas of the landscape, creating patterns of color and shadow, making even mundane fields look interesting. It's all about that light.

It’s All About That Light – Killbuck Marsh, Ohio

14mm prime lens, hand held, 1/500” @ f/8, ISO-180

Here, the light coming across from a low angle off to the right, filtered through clouds, struck some areas of grass and trees, while other areas were left in shadow, emphasizing the contours of the landscape. The clouds also add interest to the sky, so that the entire scene has something to feed the eyes. Although I most often work with zoom lenses, I do like this wide prime for some landscape work, particularly in conditions like I encountered yesterday. It gives very good depth of field without having to be stopped down to a very narrow aperture, and the broad field of view is ideal for shots like this.