Pick of the Week, a Couple weeks Late!

After two ridiculously busy weeks, we find ourselves, having sadly neglecting our blog, with a pick for this week. Our subject this month is light and today I want to illustrate how water so wonderfully influences it. Here we have one of my favorite macros I took while we ventured through Sequoia National Park. The Light cloud cover following light rain gave us the perfect light for shooting. I found a small stream with many leaves adrift, but this one caught my eye. Ok, lots caught my eye and I took way too many pictures! But I digress, this photo stands apart from so many others for one simple reason; the water has so neatly magnified the details of the leaf. The photo is quite sharp and the droplets assist the eye in traveling all about the leaf to explore its intricacies.

New Month, New Focus, New Picks!

Photography is the art or practice of taking and processing photographs. The root word Photo- refers to light, or "Phos". For the month of March we shall explore uses and techniques of light with some of our favorite photos.

Every photo needs light to be made and the methods one uses enable them to create a memorable image or a forgettable one. We've picked three examples for this week to illustrate how we see and use light.


Quality of Light
The example above is from Sequoia National Park. Our second day there we encountered a dense fog which had inundated the forest. The soft and diffuse light was ideal; it created bright shadows for smoothly contrasted images with rich colors. The Sequoia's are massive trees and the filtered light only makes them seem larger and more mysterious.

Direction of Light

Here we have a mother only a few months from conception. Using a lamp (low tech!) we have made a simple and rather traditional image much more dramatic. With direct light on one hand gently cradling her growing belly we draw the eye downward. Shot at a higher ISO and with some softening on the post-production side we have made a very endearing image.

Flare and Backlighting

Sunsets in the desert are spectacular and offer many opportunities to explore ways to utilize light. The above image is from southern Arizona, near a little town called Ajo. Lens flare is yet another method to add(or subtract) visual impact to an image. If over used flare can reduce an image's contrast to a point where it does not draw the eye as it should. Back-lighting the subject is another useful tool employed here as well. Cactus spines catch and diffuse the sun's rays nicely. Each species glows a bit differently too. A note to would-be desert shooters; find a hill covered with cacti and a sunset transforms it into a glowing golden masterpiece!

We will continue our exploration throughout the month-so stay tuned!