Same photographer, same camera, DIFFERENT light

This blog post is primarily for my fabulous photography students who are finishing up their digital photography course with me and their final module is about learning to see and work with light.

The quality, quantity, direction, intensity and colour of light helps to dictate the mood of an image; all these photographs were taken in different light by the same photographer, using the same camera and one of 3 different lenses.

Please don’t simply flick through these photographs but instead take your time and look at each one carefully.

See if you can guess what direction the light is coming from. Is it hard or soft? Direct or indirect? Is the temperature of the light warm or cool? What time of day do you think it is? Stop for a moment, pay attention and allow the light to speak to you. Be mindful.

 

What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time.” – John Berger

 

Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” – George Eastman

 

Wherever there is light, one can photograph.” – Alfred Stieglitz

 

“In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.” – Aaron Rose

 

I find the light and work it, work it, work it.” – Janice Dickinson

 

Roses – morning, noon and night…

 

Darkness is where we begin and where we end. We don’t usually see light traveling in darkness of space because we only can see its reflection on substance.” – Ala Bashir

 

You can’t have a light without a dark to stick it in.” – Arlo Guthrie

 

Why is it called ‘after dark’ when it really is ‘after light’?” – George Carlin

 

 

There are two kinds of light – the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.” – James Thurber

 

There are two ways of spreading light… To be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.” – Edith Wharton

 

The artist vocation is to send light into the human heart.” – Robert Schumann

 

Each day brings new opportunities, allowing you to constantly live with love—be there for others—bring a little light into someone’s day. Be grateful and live each day to the fullest.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart