Shadow and Light
The way light hits the subject of a photograph has a profound influence on the resulting image. Lighting allows the contras of a photograph to be increased or decreased, hardened or softened, depending on whether slow falloff or fast falloff is used. I’m not huge on taking pictures of people, so here’s a picture I took of some clouds. I waited until the sun was almost visible over the top of the cloud, so the bottom would be dark:
Another picture I took is bright in the top-left, and gets progressively darker as you move down and to the right:
Another picture I took, uses fast falloff lighting, and is an actual picture of a light. In it, the subject is bright, and the background is completely dark:
Another picture I took incorporates the rule of thirds, with darkness. The top third is dark, the middle is bright, and the bottom is dark:
And again, with lines:
Lighting is key in taking a photograph. For an exaggerated example of how important it is, try to imagine the previous picture had it been taken at 12:00 noon.
Comments
Jake, I really enjoyed
Jake,
I really enjoyed reading your post and looking at the beautiful pictures you have taken in the past. The comment you made in your introductory paragraph "lighting allows the contrast of a photograph to be increased or decreased, hardened or softened, depending on whether slow falloff or fast falloff is used," is seen in all of the photographs you have posted. My favorite picture of those was the last one of the dock where you broke down parts of the photo into segments with different brightness. This really portrays how a contrast in lighting can make a photograph stand out. Thank for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next, because I truly enjoy scenic photographs (especially involved with water or the ocean). If you post more photographs, I most definitely will look at your posts again.