Shadows and light

         

          Shadow and light images can be frustrating for the beginning photographer because the object is to seemingly take the common place and turn it to art.

          But it does not need to be the artistic equivalent of climbing Mount Shasta. The same rule a journalism professor at San Diego State once stressed to me about reporting works well for this type of image. The instructor told me, “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”

          The KISS method is a great idea to keep in mind. Beginning photographers will frequently see a terrific opportunity for an image and then get so anxious to be perfect that he or she fails to generate anything decent. To avoid that irritation, start simply.

          With a film camera, you are at the mercy of the ISO rating of your film. Within that constraint, meter your exposure on the lightest area in the image. Set your shutter for a fairly quick speed and set your f-stop for the bright light. After two or three exposures with that setting, start to bracket your image with various shutter/aperture combinations.

          With a digital format, start the same way and bracket your settings. But remember you can cheat by looking at the screen on the back of your camera when making adjustments.

          The image on top is from behind a grandstand at a race track (Thunder Road International Speedbowl) in Vermont. I like the repetition of light and dark and all the cross beams cutting in and out of the light. It’s a wacko shot, sure, but it is very simple and you could duplicate it almost anywhere.

          I was very careful about my metering before taking this shot and, to be honest, I was laughing at myself for taking it in the first place. But I like this image because it is so simple.

          Look at the first two images here. Very simple stuff, light through a window and shutters, landing on a wall. For the purpose of this blog, I have two different exposures here with two different post-photo treatments.

          Which works best for you? Why? What would you do differently? Ask yourself these questions when you see an image from another photographer. Remember those thoughts when you are lining up a shot of your own.



          Here is another pair of images. Talk about cheating! This is a hotel hallway turned upside down. Differing exposure measures here between the two images and I admit to burning in some of the lights to get some detail. Still, a simple shot. The idea for the turnover came when I was playing with Photoshop.

The temptation to crop this differently is
pretty obvious. You might want to crop above
the lights where they end in the distance. But
I wanted to give the observer a chance to
discover the hallway floor above.

          The hallway images are a bit more complicated than the shuttered window, but both serve a purpose. They show that by starting simple, bracketing your exposures for the next set of images and then old-fashioned experimentation, you can develop your own methodology for different types of images.

So remember the KISS method and a nice line from a great old song in the movie, Casablanca:

“A KISS is just a KISS,

a sigh is just a sigh,

the fundamental things apply

as time goes by.”

          This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship, so thanks for reading.