Drawing with Light
June 25th, 2019Since this is a photography blog maybe I should talk about photography for a while.
The word photography comes from Greek roots that mean ‘light’ (photo) and 'draw’ (graphic); which combined mean 'drawing with light’. That definition is somewhat misleading in that a photographer doesn’t really draw with light as much as they capture light interacting with a subject to create a drawing. For me, thinking of photography in that light (pun intended) is more useful because it encourages me to think about my subject, the way light is interacting with it and possible ways in which I could modify that interaction.
Light interacting with a subject could be as simple as soft light falling on the petals of a rose…
(Kate’s Rose, LG G6, 1/320s, f1.8, ISO50)
or something more complex like the light from fireworks interacting over time with the waves of a pond.
(Evelyn’s Birthday Party, Canon 5DMII, EF24-105 @ 99mm, 4.0s, f8, ISO100)
Simple or complex, capturing fleeting moments of light interacting with the world around us is what photography is all about.
Does how you think about light influence your photography practice?