How We See…

Photography, quite simply, is the recording of light and shadow on film and/or digital media. The stronger the light, the deeper the shadow.

Your assignment this week takes you back to your books, magazines, newspapers, television shows and movies in order for you to think and see in terms of light and shadow and how the two create, spatially, everything you see.

This photo I shot on a bright, hot August afternoon in Dallas. The shot gives you an idea of the power of light and shadow in a very bold and clear way. the subject of the shot is the shadow contrasting with the light. Most of the photographs you and I shoot will not rise to this level of  contrast. The lighting will be more subtle.

Go back to the photos you liked in the first assignment and look at them in relation to how the light creates the shadow in each. Do the majority of the photos you chose have dramatic lighting (sharp delineation between light and shadow) or is the lighting more subtle with softer shadows?

With some photographs, you may think there is no shadow. Not true. In its conventional definition, shadow is the dark area produced by a body coming between a light source and a surface. For this assignment, shadow means that and the difference in lighter and darker areas. Most photographs you see will be of the second variety.

When I have a fashion assignment where I am shooting on location (meaning outdoors), the first thing I have to do to get really good photographs is control the shadows and blend the light and the dark to get a good exposure. Take a look at my fashion work here. In all but a few of the photos, you will see a very careful blend of highlights and shadows to give a very subtle effect between light and shadow. Only in a few of the photographs will you see a dramatic contrast.

Keep all of that in mind when you are reviewing your favorite photos.

Enjoy yourselves. And let me know what you find.

I never went to school for photography. I am self-taught. Anytime we went to the library, I headed for the photography books. I spent hours looking at the photographs by Imogene Cunningham, Walker Evans, Edward Westin, Dorthea Lange, William Eggleston, Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin and countless others, the photographers I would later learn were the masters of the medium.

When I actually began to take photographs on a regular basis, I was always looking at them to see which ones I liked and which ones I didn’t. Most I didn’t like but now and then, one would jump out at me and I would study it to see what I liked about it.

Then I became a mime with a camera. The photographs I liked, I tried to reproduce if not exactly then in some facsimile. We will explore more of that in later exercises.

Your assignment is to sit down with some books with photography or magazines or your laptop and begin to pick out photographs that really appeal to you. Don’t ask why. Don’t try to ‘figure it out.’ Just browse and tag the ones you really like. Does not matter if the photo is in an ad. Pick as many as you like and tag them with a sticky or bookmark them or save them to a folder on your computer.

After your perusal, set them all aside for a day or two then go back and look at the ones you tagged. Move the tags of any that no longer appeal to you. If the tag is on the top, move it to the bottom. Whatever way you choose to remark them is fine. Then set them aside again and, in a day or two, revisit all of them, the rejects as well as the ones you liked.

Do the ones you tagged and left tagged still appeal to you? Do any of the ones that no longer appealed to you now appeal to you?

From the photos that appeal to you, choose your favorite five.

What is it about each one of them that fascinates you? Is it the lighting? Is it the subject? Is it the composition? Is it some other element? Can you describe what you like about each photograph? Is it a combination of some or all of those elements?

Enjoy yourselves. And let me know what you find.

Take your camera for a walk. It will do you both some good. First, you will get a little exercise. Second, your camera will get over its fear of taking photos…

Look around for your favorite color. Snap a photo of it. Change angles. Snap another photo. If it’s on the ground/sidewalk kneel down and snap a shot. (Okay,if your item is in the street, probably not a good idea to kneel down unless, of course, blood red is your favorite color.)

Continue your walk. Find as many items that have your favorite color as you can and, each time you find one, snap a shot. Repeat the above. Hint: the color can be part of a larger object. Don’t limit yourself.

You may wonder how I get great shots consistently. Well, that’s another lesson but I will give you a hint. Shoot LOTS of frames and edit, edit, edit…