Let Light Guide You to Your Next Amazing Photograph

Photography literally means drawings with light. The word photos comes from the Greek word “phos” which means light and graphy comes from the Greek “graphe” which means drawing.

Photography is drawing with light.

When a photographer is looking for something to photograph, most photographers are looking for an interesting subject. Something that catches their eye. Something that might make a compelling image.

In this workshop, I am doing something different. Instead of looking for a subject to photograph, I allow the light to guide me to my image. I am on the lookout for light and examining how it is interacting with my surroundings. The light is like a spotlight leading me to my image.

Looking where the light is falling led me to this image of a backlit cat’s paw. Look where the light leads you.

In this image, the pattern of archways of light becomes the subject of the image.

Looking at light also means looking at shadows. The shadow created by this lamppost is what makes this image. So remember to keep an eye out for shadows as well as light.

So, how does one use light to guide them to an image?

First of all, you need a day with direct sunlight so this can’t be done on an overcast day. Early and late in the day when the sun is rising and setting are great times for this workshop. It will be best when the sun isn’t directly overhead but as long as you have sunlight and shadows, you can do this workshop.

Let the light guide you to your images.

Often times, great light can make mundane subjects much more interesting. The weather beaten doors is an interesting subject on its own but is made more interesting by the shafts of light.

Exposure compensation

When you have light and shadow in an image, your camera sees something very bright and something very dark and sometimes it might get the exposure wrong.

This is a great time to use exposure compensation. What is exposure compensation?

Exposure compensation is when you override the camera’s decision on what is the correct exposure and tell it to darken or lighten the image. Usually, when there is shadows and light, I dial in minus (negative) exposure compensation which tells the camera to darken the image.