Taking the photography of Mann, Atget or Schmidt or a photographer of your own choosing as your starting point, shoot a number of photographs exploring the quality of natural light. The exercise should be done in manual mode and the important thing is to observe the light, not just photograph it. In your learning log, and using the descriptions above as your starting point, try to describe the quality of the light in your photographs in own words.
Research
In the book ‘The Art of Photography’ light is described as the ‘central issue’ of photography. The term photography was first coined in 1839 by William Henry Fox Talbot and was an amalgamation of the Greek words ‘photo’ meaning light, and ‘graphy’ meaning to draw. Therefore photography was viewed as ‘drawing with light’.
Outdoor lighting, sunny weather provides directional light, as do dawn and dusk (The Golden Hour) light from the East or West. However, there is a difference between sunlight and dawn or dusk light, both are devoid of the deep shadows associated with sunlight. Overcast light provides flat, non-directional light. But some cloud cover can provide enough directional light to give some shadow depth. When photographing in daylight it is worth assessing the current lighting conditions versus other possibilities in order to envisage the same situation under alternate conditions.
I googled all three of the artsists mentioned above to see which images stood out. By doing this, I was drawn towards Eugène Atget, as his work contains a variety of approaches as mentioned in the EYV coursebook; ‘He usually made such images – see, for example, Environs, Amiens – in the middle of the day, when shadows were minimal. Atget’s late photographs, however, are frequently marked by subjective light and deep shadows’.
Atget was a French photographer who is well known for his imagery of the architecture and streets within Paris. Keeping the idea of outdoor photography in mind, I took the opportunity to complete the exercise while out walking the dog around the woods using my 50mm lens as the dog wouldn’t hang around while I set up a shot! Atget’s works included nature and trees and the image I was particularly drawn to was the one below.
Atget used a lot of diffused light, in turn capturing a clear and detailed composition. He also made some shots that included heavy shadows or highlights to provide depth and show silhouettes of the surroundings or subjects. I liked the idea of the exaggerated depth of his photos and tried to emulate it in mine.
The following photos were taken on probably the last sunny day of autumn when the light was still warm but the sun was low in the sky with the camera set to manual.
Reflection
- Natural Light has colour depending on the time of the day-warm at sunrise/sunset, blue during the day, neutral in the absence of sun or when overcast
- Light can be used to convey an atmosphere or emotion
- One can creatively change the mood of photograph depending on the exposure combination of iso, aperture and shutter speed
- Over-cast days or when the light is neutral is best for recording and documenting a scene i.e. doesn’t have mood or emotion to detract from the scene
- Different types of light add to the creative pallet of a photgrapherer
- Properties of light include, quantity, quality, direction, reflection/refraction.
References
The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. 2021. Saint-Cloud, Tree Roots, Saint Cloud Park (Getty Museum). [online] Available at: <https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/63460/eugene-atget-saint-cloud-tree-roots-saint-cloud-park-french-negative-1906-print-1920s/> [Accessed 14 October 2021].
Barnbaum, B., n.d. The art of photography.
craig519809.home.blog 