It all starts with light!
I could only start this blog by talking about something essential for photography, which is light.
It is decisive for our shots.
Because photography is simply "painting with light". Beautiful right?
The word finds its roots in Greek terms
photos which means light, clarity
and graphein which means to draw, to write.
Without light there is no photography! (however, without photography there will still be light, no worries on that)
The most common and accessible source of light is natural light, light coming from outside, which passes through our windows and gently lands on our subjects.
By photographing inside our homes, the window becomes our primary source of light.
The whole difficulty is learning to use it to our liking.
Therefore, before even starting to compose your scene, I suggest that you take a moment to observe this light.
As you observe and analyse it through the day, ask yourself the following questions:
How does light appear in your environment?
What is your main light source?
What is the direction of the light?
How does it evolve throughout the day?
What happens if you bring your subject closer or further away from the light source?
What is the “color” of this light at different times of the day? What feeling does this light inspire in you?
It’s a great exercise to just sit back and watch it!
Some answers will come intuitively and quite quickly, others will take time and (a lot) of practice.
If you have already done this exercise, you will probably notice some of the following things:
natural light constantly changes throughout the day & from day to day
the distance between the light source and your subject is decisive
the placement of your subject in relation to the light source is important
For now, let's keep these three ideas in a corner of our mind, we'll go deeper into them step by step.
Keep in mind that light is our best friend or can become one … if we know how to tame it!
In a next post I will discuss a few ideas on how to manipulate this natural light with simple methods.
In the meantime, stay creative!